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Could someone help me identify this pot, please? I have just bought it in a charity shop and I find it very beautiful, but I am sure where is it from. Is it possible to say by looking at signature on the bottom? Thank you.

This most likely is a honey pot with molded bee applications. These items usually come with a dipping stick with knob at one end that has a narrow stick-like handle. If I'm correct, your pot should have have a gap somewhere around the lid that has a diameter wide enough to accommodate the handle of the dipper, which remains in the jar when not in use. If this is not the case with yours, then I'm out of guesses as to what the particular function of the piece might be besides conversation.

The marking is enigmatic. Not anything I recognize as Chinese. The item looks to be contemporary, wherever it comes from.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Hi. I don't think that it is a honey pot as the cover appears to have open areas. It does look a modern censer with moth decorations of Asian origin. Possibly Chinese or Japanese. The mark on the back may be "busy"

Moths are considered to represent spirits of the dead in China and Japan, while swarms of bees are seen as very lucky. Unless this jar was made to store ashes of the dead, I seriously doubt that the decoration is moths unless it was made to be an incense burner.

Bill H.

Dear Bill H. & Carlos,

Thank you for your comments. I thought that it might be a honey pot, but there is no gap in the pot, plus the creatures look more like moths. Please, see attached photo.

Best wishes,
Kasia

I'm fresh out of ideas and see no reason to speculate further.

Best regards,

Bill H.

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