can someone help with this Chinese hallmark PLEASE - thanxies

[thebudandbigbig]

[patd3283]

What is it on?  Picture of the whole thing, please.

[gracieallen01]

Do you know if the piece - it looks to be a robed figure? - is Yixing or Bizen?

I think the square mark is supposed to be a 4 character Chinese reign mark but not one familiar to me.  With the double gourd mark, I tend to think it may be a Japanese Bizen figure of a monk, however, seeing the whole thing - including the bottom - would be extremely helpful.

[argon38]

The square mark appears to read 何朝宗印 ("Seal of He Chaozong"):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Chaozong 

But whatever your item may be, it is plainly not white porcelain (from the 17th or any other century). Nor does it even seem to be a direct copy of He Chaozong's actual mark, which had the characters in a different order - at least, in the examples I'm seeing online. So I don't really know what to say about it. I can't make out the characters inside the double gourd.

Please post photos of the entire item, as others have requested, to help us figure out just what you have.

[thebudandbigbig]

thanX to everyone who has replied - here is a picture of the statue - it appears to be basalt (like the wedgwood version) not stone - I believe it is porcelain -  just in case it matters the scale is huge - she stands in at 20" tall - I believe it is kwan yin especially considering the lotus...  it has a lot of dust imbedded into the crevices - the piece is not new - but how old I have no idea... it came out of a very wealthy south beach estate -  advanced thanX again for any insights

[gracieallen01]

Is the 'red', showing on the foot rim, under the brown or is it something that will wipe off?

[thebudandbigbig]

yes - the red rubs off 

[gracieallen01]

I would say it is a 20th century piece of Yixing ware - a Stoneware that has been around and used in China for over 1000 years.  Known for teapots, old ones rare and valuable, are quite hard to impossible to find, but there are plenty of new one especially starting from the early to mid 1900s on.  Larger pieces are also made, can be expensive and some are quite nice.  Personally, I think yours looks much better than most.

As to who made it, I'm afraid I can't help much with that, though argon's reference may be an indication that a later person may have carried over the name and mark, with appropriate variation for changes in language, style and writing.

[thebudandbigbig]

because it is Kwan Yin and the hallmarks appear to be Chinese - does that mean we can rule out Japanese Bizon ware ?  

[argon38]

I'm not having much luck tracking down the maker - the information must be out there, but it is buried by all the stuff about the real He Chaozong. You could try the Asian Arts Forum - someone there may be able to read the marks on the gourd:

https://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php 

[thebudandbigbig]

thanX again - I have posted on the asianart board but got a message that due to spam it may take up to 12 hours before the post can be approved and hit the boards... 

[gracieallen01]

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@thebudandbigbig wrote:

because it is Kwan Yin and the hallmarks appear to be Chinese - does that mean we can rule out Japanese Bizon ware ?  

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Probably, yes.  Not because it is a Kwan Yin or because of the hallmarks, though.  Nobody had/has a patent or claim to Kwan Yin or the use of hallmarks.  China puts out a lot of things that were originally made in other countries.