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I have a bronze vase that has been in my family for many many years and I am trying to find some info on it. It has an unusual mark on the bottom. Would love to know what this means, if anything. Thanks for any information. I believe it is from the 19th Century.

Further to my commments on the Message Board, I believe the mark may consist of the two characters (shown below), which on the vase are between two stylized dragons. In Mandarin, they may be read from the left as 'Guang Quan', with 'Guang' meaning bright or radiant, and 'Quan' being an obscure character, for which neither the Unicode data base nor any of my dictionaries provide a meaning.

The truth is out there somewhere!

Cheers,

Bill H.

Thanks so much Bill! I am trying to find out if this is rare to have a mark on these types of vases/urns. I am finding out that it may be a wax seal of some sort. Would just love to know approximate age of this thing...I know it is pretty old just by how long it has been in my family. May consult an Asian Arts expert in my area.

In the original post on the Message Board, you mentioned having spotted a faint 'Japan' mark on the base. I believe that would date the vase to about 1920 or later, after 'Nippon' marks ended due to changes in US tariff law. 'Nippon' markings were instituted in 1890, before which time characters had been used on marked Japanese exports,

Best regards,

Bill H.

Ok thanks ... much newer than I originally thought. I think they used these wax seals on many of the vases, like mine. Most of them have been turned into lamps so I am really glad mine is still in its original form. :)

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