Collecting antique Chinese ceramics and porcelain is not as prohibitively costly as people may imagine. For instance, in Spain, there is a generational and cultural affinity for blue and white. You can locate pieces in almost any location, and the majority will be Chinese. While really ancient and magnificent items may be prohibitively pricey, little pieces may still be purchased on a shoestring budget provided you have the drive to search. The two guidelines to remember are as follows: 1) Just because something has a mark on the bottom, such as the reign markings in the image for this page, does not indicate it dates from that time. 2) The absence of any mark does not imply that the item is worthless; rather, it indicates that the piece did not need stamping to sell and hence was presumably not intended for export. Thus, what is the significance of the Chinese reign mark?
For numerous centuries, porcelain, a polished white ceramic created in China and marketed globally, was a key import from China to India. It was shipped along the Silk Road and the Spice Route. This earthenware is... For numerous centuries, porcelain, a polished white ceramic created in China and marketed globally, was a key import from China to India. It was shipped along the Silk Road and the Spice Route. Royals and nobles considered this pottery to be valuable and valued it as a treasure. India was a major market for Chinese porcelain, and evidence of it has been discovered at a number of archaeological sites throughout the Subcontinent from the first discovery in 1854 CE at Brahminabad in Sind (now Pakistan). Chinese porcelain has been discovered at 117 archaeological sites throughout India's twenty-one states and union territories (from peninsular India to Delhi in the north and coastal sites in Gujarat to remote sites in Northeast). This widespread dispersion of sites in India reflects the enormous demand for porcelain and its widespread usage. Despite its archaeological significance, nothing is known about this pottery in India.
Note: Although Kovels' New Dictionary of Marks refers to an Elite mark as belonging to Guerin-Pouyat-Elite LTD, the majority of dealers use the Mary Frank Gaston attribution in Bawo & Dotter's The Collectors Encyclopedia of Limoges Porcelain. This company's post-1920 trademark does relate to Guerin-Pouyat-Elite LTD., implying a subsequent collaboration or merger with Guerin-Pouyat.
Markings on porcelain and ceramics - Svres marks
In 1738, over 30 years after the first European porcelain was created in Meissen, a successful effort was made in French Vincennes to develop soft paste porcelain. This year, Marquis Orry de Fulvy got a license to produce porcelain from King Louis XV. From the start, the facility was known as the "Manufacture royale." Marquis Orry de Fulvy died in 1751, and the monarch acquired a 25% stake in the plant. Early French porcelain was modeled by Meissen porcelain.
