My first wife left me a green glazed brush pot when she died. I believe it was left to her by her great-grandmother who brought it to the US in the mid-19th century.

The raised decorations depict a man riding a water-buffalo reaching for his hat as the wind carries it away. Raised script on the side of the pot suggest a lyrical song.

I am enclosing pictures of the pot and the 6-figure, non-framed marks from the bottom of the pot.

I am trying to determine the age of the pot and an estimated value.

Thank you for any trouble you may go to on my behalf.

Probably early 20th century

This type of raised decoration occurs on Chinese porcelain from at least the Qianlong period, maybe even slightly earlier then that, but I don’t have any references at hand for to look into, for the earliest date.

The mark is also saying "Da Qing Qianlong Nian Zhi" which translates "Great Qing Dynasty Qianlong period made". Now, I don't believe this is the case, since the mark is written in a distinctly different way than the marks were, during the Qianlong (1736-1795) period. This type of decoration was also made popular during the first decades of the 20th century by a famous porcelain artist called Wang Bing Rong and this is also the period I would suggest as a date for this nice brush pot.

Now I rarely suggest any prices for anything, but could suggest that the price levels should be in the area of a number of hundred US $ to give you something to base your further research on.

If the Bitong had been either Qianlong period or a signed "Wang Bing Rong" the price level would have been entirely different though, so it might be wise to ask any of the major international auction houses for a second opinion.

Sincerely,
Jan-Erik Nilsson

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