Set of 4 blue oriental characters on two similar blue Chinese jars

by Mark
(Lancashire, England)

Set of 4 blue oriental characters on two similar blue Chinese jars:- There has been a lot of disagreement about these two jars and I am hoping someone can shed light on the matter. When my Grandmother died in 1978 I was asked if I wanted any items from her house as a keepsake. I chose the clock and two "vases" which had been on her mantelpiece since I was little.

My Dad thought they had come from Grandad's home prior to 1910, my Mum thought Grandma had told her that the clock and "vases" had come from France when our family came to England in the 1850's. The clock is dated 1858.

The one on the left in the picture is a lighter colour and has a wider body. The one on the right has been badly broken and stuck back together. The two carry different marks.

Various family members tell different tales. One being that the one on the left was of a pair to which the other was smashed in the late 19th C. and a copy was commissioned by my G.Grandfather. A second tale is that Grandfather spotted a very similar jar in a shop to one he owned and so bought it to make up a pair.

Thirty odd years ago I was given two very different assessments. One person said that the one on the left was a very old temple jar and worth a great deal but that the one on the right was a worthless modern copy. A different person stated that they were both from the Victorian era and worth only a few pounds.

I recently saw a TV program on which a ceramics expert confidently translated the marks on a piece and I wondered if anyone could 'read' the marks on my supposed antiques.

I would love to know a little more about them as they still stand either side of the clock and so I look at them many times a day when I check the time.

Mark

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