Pot ID

[Andrew Legg]

Hi Everyone,

I have just aquired a pot here in South Africa that I am trying to find the origins of. It is about 20 x 20 x 7 cms in size and has a "stonegreen" glaze. The glaze covers the entire pot excluding only the inside, the stamp and the feet. The pot is made from a fairly course clay and the material is thick (10 to 12 mm). Looking at the stamp, the upper left symbols appear to read "bonsai", but I don;t know what the rest are. I think I have photographed it the right way up. The pot appears to be hand made, as it does not have the characteristics of a moulded pot. It is hell of a heavy as well.

Any ideas?

Cheers,

Andrew

[NathanM]

Wow!! I really like it! That’s a fantastic pot! I’m afraid I can’t help with the ID, but let me know if you want to let it go

[Dumper]

from what i can tell.

the character is more of an olden chinese writing.

i would say its origin is china.

[Andrew Legg]

Thanks Guys,

I also think it may be Chinese, but the plot thickens! I bought the tree and pot purely for the pot, and the more I look at it, the more I like it. It is not pretty or beautifully made, but it has character in bucket loads! Bit of an ugly duckling!

Cheers

[Jamie]

wheres the tree ??

[Graeme]

As I dont have my book of markings anymore I am only guessing, but I would say you have a pot of Chinese origin there mate and also of very old Chinese origin as well. As I said though, I am only guessing, but I would do a lot more research into this one, before I dropped it of the end of the bench.

[Andrew Legg]

Hey Jamie,

The tree is a mame, and is hidden just behind the lip of the pot. If you look carefully, you can just see the crown sticking out. Oh, hang on, no, you can't!

Kidding - the tree is an olive. Not much too write home about, but here it is potted into its new home.

IMG_4670_resize.jpg

Not sure what to do with it, but time will tell. It has a bit of character but definately needs work. For now, it can just gather a bit of strength and I'll work on getting it healthy. Not the ideal pot to recover a tree in, as it way too small, but there you go.

Cheers

[Andrew Legg]

Thanks Graeme,

Its safe as houses for now mate. Problem I have is I just don't know where to start looking. I had a quick goosey at a few stamp websites and could not make a match, but they both seem to be focussed on Japanese pots. I'll have to ask around some more. Needless to say, I don't have a tree for it right now, so for now it will stay packed away in a safe place.

[Mitchell]

Can you take a shot of the bottom from directly above? I can't read it at that angle with the glaze in the characters.

[Andrew Legg]

I'll do that tonight Mitchell. Sent the pics to Craig Cousins in the UK who claims to be an expert on antique Chinese Pots, and this is what he had to say:

The pot looks around 40 years old but in the style of an older Tokoname Pot from the 19th century. The marks and condition are much more recent however.. Nicely made and with a good signature. However it is, as you suggested, Chinese but not early. In the style of a Tokoname pot, many pots like this were copied by the Chinese and still are as it happens. Perhaps if you can find a Chinese person locally they could make out the signature. Chinese and Japanese writing is essentially the same but have different meanings.

That's as good as I have for now.

Cheers

[Andrew Legg]

Hi Mitchell,

First let me sat that where I said Craig "claims to be an expert" I have no reason to doubt it. It might have come out wrong though!

I have taken two more photos. I have tried to keep the resolution up, so here goes. Not sure which one is clearer.

Cheers

[Mitchell]

Several of the symbols appear to be Kanji (Japanese) a few have me stumped though. I've taken what does seems Japanese and tried checking the normal pot id sites and so far haven't had any luck. I have only checked Japanese sites though.

I'm trying to remember being taught 10 years ago, so a lot is hazy.

As Craig said Japanese and Chinese can look very similar. Though out of the 11 or so symbols 8 are Kanji symbols.

[Scott Roxburgh]

Great pot mate!

Lucky man to be in living in Cape Town!

It really is one of the most beautiful cities in the world!

[Andrew Legg]

Hi All,

Thanks for the inputs. Cape Town sure is a nice place to be!

I spoke to a Chinese guy here today, and although his English was terrible (better than my Chinese!!) I did manage to understand that the symbols on the right had some sort of relevance to date. He mentioned a period between 1880 and 1910. Then he said it was earlier than 1910. He suggested that the symbol on the bottom left is the potter's stamp.

What he said got me thinking, so when I got home Binged "Chinese Dynasties" and sure enough, the Qing Dynasty is the last one and dates from 1644 to 1911/12. The symbol for the dynasty sure looks a hell of a lot like the top right symbol on the pot. Here it is:

qingdynasty.gif

So there you go - that is where I have got so far. Seems Chinese for sure, and made sometime before 1911.

Hmmmmm

[Andrew Legg]

OK People - Mystery Solved!

The pot was made by Stan and Ilse Holroyd in South Africa. Here is their mark:

Rakkan-Stan-Holroyd.jpg

I guess this makes perfect sense as they make pots locally. In a way, I am a bit disappointed as I thought I had an old Chinese antique, but either way, I still really like the pot, so there you go! Crazy thing is that people all over the world are now trying to figure it out, and the pottery is about 50kms from my home!!!

Cheers