The Chinese porcelain specially made for the Japanese market will include items required for the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Chinese export porcelain includes items such as dishes, jugs, tea and coffee cups (with or without handles), jars, pitchers and other similar products.
Chinese porcelain marks are synonymous with authenticity and are a proof of the age, origin, and quality of the porcelain items. Collectors generally look for a maker’s mark before deciding on the worth of a piece of porcelain. Manufacturers regard Chinese porcelain marks as a symbol of their flawless workmanship.
Porcelain marks, such as the Meissen marks, on fine antique china are ‘underglaze’, which means the mark was applied on the porcelain item before the firing. In the past, the only two known pigments that could sustain the high firing temperature were iron red and cobalt blue, which were used for porcelain marks for the first hundred years of porcelain production.