07-10-2021 04:34 PM
Hello! Thanks in advance!
Can anyone tell me what these marks say. They are from a Chinese paktong tobacco waterpipe I came across. It appears to be Copper or just some pot metal with Jade cylinders.
Just curious to what it says and what the character represents.
Attached are photos thank you
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07-11-2021 06:59 AM - edited 07-11-2021 07:04 AM
Could you show the whole piece?
I can tell you what the manufacturer's mark says, which isn't quite the same thing as identifying the manufacturer. From top right, the characters are: 天寶紋銀 (Tiānbǎo wényín). So the mark says Tianbao (literally: Heavenly Treasure) Fine Silver. The real question is: who used/uses this mark?
I've found two discussion threads which mention the mark. This one is on the Asian Arts Forum:
https://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php?method=detailAll&Id=130529
Be careful not to be led astray by a hasty reading. Despite the references to the Republic period on that thread, note that the expert suggests "a manufacturing date around the mid-20th century or somewhat later."
The other discussion thread is on a thread dedicated to Chinese language questions:
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29865/help-please-me-find-out-what-this-means
You can safely ignore the lengthy etymological answer. The important reply is the second one, which states that the mark is used by the Shanghai Qiu Tianbao Gold Jewelry Co., Ltd. (上海裘天宝黄金珠宝有限公司), founded in the 19th century and still active today. I found the following information about the company (run through Google Translate):
This appears to be the same company discussed in the Asian Arts Forum thread. It seems likely enough that the mark does belong to this Shanghai company, but I can't absolutely confirm it. Nor do I understand why your piece should be marked as 紋銀 (fine silver) when it is not.
There are two Chinese characters on either side of the head. I'm not sure about the one on the left, but the character on the right is 寿 (longevity). So I'm guessing it may be a representation of the Chinese deity Shouxing (but it is only a guess):
07-11-2021 06:59 AM - edited 07-11-2021 07:04 AM
Could you show the whole piece?
I can tell you what the manufacturer's mark says, which isn't quite the same thing as identifying the manufacturer. From top right, the characters are: 天寶紋銀 (Tiānbǎo wényín). So the mark says Tianbao (literally: Heavenly Treasure) Fine Silver. The real question is: who used/uses this mark?
I've found two discussion threads which mention the mark. This one is on the Asian Arts Forum:
https://www.asianart.com/phpforum/index.php?method=detailAll&Id=130529
Be careful not to be led astray by a hasty reading. Despite the references to the Republic period on that thread, note that the expert suggests "a manufacturing date around the mid-20th century or somewhat later."
The other discussion thread is on a thread dedicated to Chinese language questions:
https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/29865/help-please-me-find-out-what-this-means
You can safely ignore the lengthy etymological answer. The important reply is the second one, which states that the mark is used by the Shanghai Qiu Tianbao Gold Jewelry Co., Ltd. (上海裘天宝黄金珠宝有限公司), founded in the 19th century and still active today. I found the following information about the company (run through Google Translate):
This appears to be the same company discussed in the Asian Arts Forum thread. It seems likely enough that the mark does belong to this Shanghai company, but I can't absolutely confirm it. Nor do I understand why your piece should be marked as 紋銀 (fine silver) when it is not.
There are two Chinese characters on either side of the head. I'm not sure about the one on the left, but the character on the right is 寿 (longevity). So I'm guessing it may be a representation of the Chinese deity Shouxing (but it is only a guess):
07-12-2021 11:19 AM
Wow thank you so much for the detailed information. That is more than I even hoped for!
Im afraid the item probably does not have m
uch value as it looks like it was painted over. Here is a complete photo.
07-12-2021 02:11 PM - edited 07-12-2021 02:13 PM
It's quite impressive-looking. Might that not be silver beneath the coppery paint? Have you tested it for silver?