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Im looking for help identifying 7 pieces of art (5 paintings and two bowls). I was advised sby a friends grandmother that some is ancient Chinese, Japanese and Cantonese but have had no luck deciphering or asking in forums. I've even tried matching pictures to other sites like wikipedia but I have zero intellect in reading Chinese. Is anyone able to read the following?

  1. This was brought back from Japan from WW2, and is a painting on silk.
    https://imgur.com/Y89xmQc
    https://imgur.com/OKl0gub

  2. Bought at second hand store.
    https://imgur.com/WGfm7a3
    https://i.imgur.com/DaDUmlk

  3. Someone mentioned it was Cantonese and not a smiley face.
    https://imgur.com/LmVYAXl https://imgur.com/S9j1eIs

  4. Bowl stamped China and other markings underneath.This was passed down from my grandmother. https://imgur.com/XrWkNkN

  5. Bowl stamped China underneath. Does anyone know this scene or is there any writing? This was passed down from my grandmother. https://imgur.com/6sgPj2f

  6. & 7. left out due to restrictions.

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For #4, rotate it clockwise 90 degree, in the centre, the text are:

“大明宣德年製”, roughly “made in the 5th reign of the Ming dynasty” (AD 1426-1435)

For #5, rotate anti-clockwise about 45 degree, in the middle is a big character “福” (good fortune, happiness); which is surrounded by a pattern of “二龍戲珠” (two dragons [Chinese style, not Jurassic] play/strive for pearl)

If #4 & #5 are photo of the same bowl, I guess it’s a valuable curiosity.

Try contact Christie’s, or Sotheby’s Hong Kong office, they’ve experts to identify it.

For #3:

I suspected the calligraphy is “梅 x 秀色”, but I'm not 100% sure.

Have fun :)

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  • Thanks for the info. I sent an email to Sothebys in London (only email address I could find). They are probably replicas but who knows... Its two separate bowls, my dads mom bought nice things so maybe they are both legit. I have no idea how to begin reading calligraphy. I copy and pasted “梅 x 秀色” in google translator and got "Plum x beauty". Would x be the unknown maker of the art or would the first name be Plum? Also is calligraphy read from left to right? – Angela Dawn Ella Buchan Nov 24 '20 at 0:02
  • @AngelaDawnEllaBuchan, yes, traditionally, read from right to left, top to bottom; but anything “newly”, we need to guess the direction, until we get a meaning 🙀 btw, next time, get better photos 😽 – 水巷孑蠻 Nov 24 '20 at 1:37
  • I should of known to flip #4 90 degrees, sigh... thanks for your help! – Angela Dawn Ella Buchan Nov 25 '20 at 2:07

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