Guangzhou Teapot With Goat Mark

[Kaaren B.]

This was a thrift shop find and came with four small matching cups. It appears Guangzhou has some fame as a porcelain producer, particularly in the Famille Rose design. There was no "date guidance" on the website, but I believe items like this date to the 1970s. I haven't seen this mark before on this forum, so I thought people might like to see it. It is most attractive, and I particularly like the "sunken" top. KB

[peterp]

This comment only concerns the mark. I cannot see a goat in the mark, but the two characters say "Yang-cheng" 羊城. The first one means indeed sheep or goats (the same in Chinese), "cheng" meant originally a walled in town or village. In the old times China had no castles, but some places had walls to keep the inhabitants safe from bandits, etc.

(According to Wikipedia Yangcheng 羊城 is the old name of Guangzhou city, which was called Canton by the foreign traders).

[Kaaren B.]

You can see the goats (I think it is sometimes translated as "rams") if you look very closely - you can see the horns curving back over their heads, but it is quite faint. The center bit looks like a bottle but I can't find information on that.

According to what I found on the site, the goat became a symbol of the city long ago, which was once called City of Five Goats.

This is from Wikipedia:

"The Legend of Five Goats comes from the ancient Guangzhou city, and is an origin of Guangzhou's nicknames like 'City of Five Goats', 'City of the Goat', 'City of the Rice'. It is also the origin of many Guangzhou local brands' names. The name 'Five Goats' can earliest be seen in poetry of Tang dynasty, and the related legendry can be dated back to Jin dynasty. Though the legendary had several versions, it was unified after Ming dynasty. Usually the Legend of Five Goats reflects the history that Lingnan people was colonized by Zhongyuan ancestors. In 2007, this legend was collected into the first batch of The Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity of Guangzhou."

So the goats/rams are ubiquitously incorporated by Guangzhou manufacturers.

And, apparently, this teapot represents the city's major porcelain export - this is also from Wikipedia:

"Canton or Cantonese porcelain is the characteristic style of ceramic ware decorated in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong and (prior to 1842) the sole legal port for export of Chinese goods to Europe. As such, it was one of the major forms of exportware produced in China in the 18th and 20th centuries."

I'm very pleased to have this after seeing all this, but really still have no way to date it. KB

[heavenguy]

I think the name of the company is YANG CHENG CERAMICS CO., LTD. and doing a quick search I think they are still active in exporting ceramics to the USA and some to India since 1970's. There are some variations of the mark like being inside a square (like a cartouche) and some come with a seal mark on the side. I guess it would be nice to start learning about our future antiques...

[Kaaren B.]

Well, if it's at least 50 years old it is "vintage", so it's halfway to antique! :)

1970s was my guess, but as to the company itself I was out of my depth, so I'm glad to have your input on the manufacturer.

I also didn't know about the "Canton" link to the name, or the city's history with importing to the West.

Thank you, everyone, for your information and input.