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Would appreciate any information in regard to this cup' markings, etc.

It measures 1 7/8" in height. The opening is 3 1/8 " in diamter

The Chinese mark reads: Qianlong 乾隆 Nian 年 Zhi 製 (made in the Qianlong period), but likely not from that period.
Since Chinese is not my expertise, perhaps Bill H. can tell you more about your cup.
Regards,
Martin.

Thanks for the reply. I look forward to Bill H.'s take.

I've been looking for an appropriate illustration for comparison and think I've found it. In my opinion, your cup probably is a contemporary Chinese product, with a four-character apocryphal mark that reads as Martin already has noted. Here's a link to and image of a '100 Boys' bowl evaluated by AAF Founder and Asian Art expert 'magna cum laude' Anthony Lee as likely made in the second half of the 20th century and possibly involving transfer decoration. Compared to your cup, the enamels are brighter and their underlying, possibly transfer-printed black tracery looks to have been created by a master artist well acquainted with the nuances of scroll painting with the brushes needed to accent form, movement, draping and other expressiveness.

The children painted on your cup are somewhat cute, but the black cartoon underneath the enamels looks like it was sketched with a pencil, not a brush, and may itself be transfer-printed. The enamels are flat compared to those of the bowl from the earlier appraisal. In my opinion, whoever decorated your boys bowl, was at best just a toddler him-or-her-self when the late 20th century bowl came along.

But only one guy's opinion.

Best regards,

Bill H.



URL Title :Chinese boys at play bowl

Bill -

Thanks for your assessment. I have a number of items that I will place on the forum. Some may be interesting.

Thanks again.

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