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Subject:Re: Calligraphy on Chinese vase
Posted By: Bill H Sun, Sep 20, 2020
I'll leave the hard part of the inscription to I. Nagy and others better versed in cursive, instead of being 'ever-cursed by verses' like myself. The six-character mark is read down and across from the right as 'Jiangxi Tonghua Company' (Jiang xi tong hua gong si - 江西桐華公司), 'Tonghua' being literally translatable as 'Flowers of the tong tree'.
The mark is laid out in standard characters in a manner similar to that of the famous Jiangxi Porcelain Company, and Tonghua may have been formed soon after the latter enterprise was formed in 1910. The earliest date I spotted for it online was 1920, in an inscription on a teapot in the British Museum Collection.
According to the former Jingdezhen-connected website chinabogu.com, in addition to this six-character mark, the works of the Tonghua Company often have inscriptions which, like yours, ends with reference to the painting having been 'Sketched while staying at the Tonghua Guesthouse' (Tong hua ju xie - 桐華居寫).
I'm hoping a cyclical date can be pried out of the inscription too.
Best regards,
Bill H.
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