Chop Identity?

[Tead Off]

If anyone can read this chop, I would be grateful. It appears on one of my older Yixing pots that I bought almost 20 years ago.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Ig5JW2vCr8I/SfQXr ... 2/chop.jpg

[zicheng]

I know I won't be able to identify the chop, but I thought I'd let you know that when I clicked on the link I got this:

Not Found
The requested URL /_Ig5JW2vCr8I/SfQXrFue9gI/AAAAAAAAAnA/7SP6umanr2Q/s512/chop.jpg%5B/img%5D was not found on this server.

Unless this picture is censored by the Chinese government for some reason, others may share this problem.

[Proinsias]

There's an img tag on the end of the url

Here's the chop:



That's about the full extent of my expertise on this matter.

[TIM]

Its a Mansheng's studio yixing. Reading from the right to left. Yixing (using the old name of the town) and Studio name. Most of these are made in the late 80s to the 90s.

[xuancheng]

This stamp is really hard. Like Tim says, the chop says 'made by Mengchen' (孟臣制)

But it is a little bit different. Most 6 character Mengchen chops say ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘



This one is slightly different in that the hui (惠) is replaced with bei (北)

[Tead Off]

Its a Mansheng's studio yixing. Reading from the right to left. Yixing (using the old name of the town) and Studio name. Most of these are made in the late 80s to the 90s.

Chen Mansheng was one of the great masters of the Qing dynasty. Could this be a tribute to his style or a copy of one of his pots?

[TIM]

Its a Mansheng's studio yixing. Reading from the right to left. Yixing (using the old name of the town) and Studio name. Most of these are made in the late 80s to the 90s.

Chen Mansheng was one of the great masters of the Qing dynasty. Could this be a tribute to his style or a copy of one of his pots?

Most of the modern copies of pear shapes and Zhuni pots will be marked Mansheng at the bottom. As you said, to pay tribute to Master Chen's style. Do you have a photo of the pot? Seems like you care about and use this pot a lot. Thanks for showing

[gingkoseto]

It seems a teapot made by the old state-owned factory. I don't have any hands-on experience on the factory made pots, so this is just based what I read from various sources.

As xuancheng said, most of the factory made pots have ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘ instead of "荆溪北孟臣制". The difference between the 2 is, ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘ is a chop commonly used by the first factory of yixing purple clay. The "荆溪北孟臣制" is a chop commonly used by the second factory of yixing purple clay. In the old state-owned system, the first factory was supposed to be more prestigious, and had more skillful teapot workers than the 2nd factory. But both were good and used reliable sources of clay. Since it was bought from 20 years ago, very likely it's authentic 2nd factory product. Lucky you Tead Off

[Tead Off]

Thanks to all. Will post a photo tomorrow. I'm off to bed!!

[Tead Off]

Here is the link to the Mansheng pot. There are dark shiny tea stains (patina) in areas that are reflecting the light.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_Ig5JW2vCr8I/SfUY6 ... %20pot.jpg

[xuancheng]

... The difference between the 2 is, ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘ is a chop commonly used by the first factory of yixing purple clay. The "荆溪北孟臣制" is a chop commonly used by the second factory of yixing purple clay. ...

Thanks for answering that question, Ginko. I was getting quite frustrated that google wasn't explaining this difference to me. Maybe my google skills need work.

[wyardley]

I was under the impression that Hui Mengchen （惠孟臣） and Chen Manshang （陈曼生） were two different potters, even though the common English transliterations are similar enough that one might think that they were just different ways of romanizing the same name.

[wyardley]

It seems a teapot made by the old state-owned factory. I don't have any hands-on experience on the factory made pots, so this is just based what I read from various sources.

Also a very commonly used / copied chop, though. So could very likely be from another maker, even if the chop is in the style of #1 / #2 factory. Interesting note about the slight variation between the #1 / #2 factory chops.

[gingkoseto]

I was under the impression that Hui Mengchen （惠孟臣） and Chen Manshang （陈曼生） were two different potters, even though the common English transliterations are similar enough that one might think that they were just different ways of romanizing the same name.

That's right! They are different people. The Mansheng chop (not this Mengchen chop) is only found on pots made in Mansheng styles (specific styles designed by Mansheng), most of them are very unique styles. Here is a site I bookmarked with illustrations of Mansheng style (more on page 2).

http://www.guchahui.com/CYCQ/59.html

[teakid]

It seems a teapot made by the old state-owned factory. I don't have any hands-on experience on the factory made pots, so this is just based what I read from various sources.

As xuancheng said, most of the factory made pots have ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘ instead of "荆溪北孟臣制". The difference between the 2 is, ’荆溪惠孟臣制‘ is a chop commonly used by the first factory of yixing purple clay. The "荆溪北孟臣制" is a chop commonly used by the second factory of yixing purple clay. In the old state-owned system, the first factory was supposed to be more prestigious, and had more skillful teapot workers than the 2nd factory. But both were good and used reliable sources of clay. Since it was bought from 20 years ago, very likely it's authentic 2nd factory product. Lucky you Tead Off

I have one with the third character different. Instead of __北___ which means 'north', mine is the character 'south'. Does that mean my pot came from a 3rd factory?