Can anyone translate this (presumably) Chinese text? It’s a maker’s mark on a pot my mom found in an antique shop
Can anyone translate this (presumably) Chinese text? It’s a maker’s mark on a pot my mom found in an antique shop
When looking up the pot on a reverse google image search it pulls up this museum page. The pots look near identical though the markings are different
It says "Yixing Zisha," which means Yixing purple sand. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yixing_ware
To add on to what others have said, it's a kind of clay used for artisanal pots and cups, especially teapots. It "breaks in" based on what tea you brew in it, so big tea nerds might have a puerh one separate from an oolong one. It is usually unglazed so that the porous quality that allows it to "break in" isn't removed.
So what it appears to say is
直典紫砂
Which translates roughly to a brand name that kind of translates to perfectly straight 直典 and purple sand 紫砂. I'm guessing at the time purple sand was some kind of fancy material that made that pot more valuable? I have no idea.
*Edit： Apparently purple sand refers to sand with Quartz in them. So, I guess it is higher quality?
宜興 not 直典. it's a place.
Ah, thanks my Chinese isn't the best. Just trying to help out :)