design24_7

I could really use someone's help in translating this mark on this 3-sided vase I purchased. The only character I can read is japan. (How hard is that!) Thanks very much, Jeannine

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yugknup

Hi Jeannie,

Well it says 大明宣徳 (dai-mei sentoku, I think is how it is read), which presumably is the maker's mark... It'll require more specialist knowledge to tell you anything more about it though! I don't know much about Japanese vases

hanachan

It's not Japanese products.
大明宣徳 (Dai-Min Sentoku) is the Chinese Emperor of Ming dynasty (1425–1435). And also his era's name.
yugknup san is right. But 大明 means "Great Ming dynasty", so it must be called "Dai-Min" in this case.
In Japan he is called "Sentoku-tei (The Emperor Sentoku)". I don't know Chinese pronunciation or English transcription.

design24_7

Since my last visit, I found out that my vase is a chinese copy of a japanese vase. Quite common, as there are thousands flooding the market these days. (This was determined by the poor quality casting and smudged mark.) The translation of the mark is: Great Ming Sentoku." The Great Ming mark was put on chinese bronzes during the period mentioned above and became quite a common fixture on all chinese bronzes thereafter (info from a chinese antiques dealer). Sentoku was a special bronze mix taken back to Japan from China. So, my guess is that "great ming sentoku" is an identification of the bronze mix. Much like "jun-gin" means pure silver on marked japanese pieces.

Although it may seem odd that artists from japan would mark their pieces with a chinese mark, its quite common. An example is when japan started producing cloisonne enamel pieces about 1863. They marked some of those pieces with "in the style of the Ming dynasty".

design24_7

Thanks everyone for helping me. Because of the information you gave me, I was able to piece together the puzzle.