Anyone Chinese out there can translate this?

[andrew1]

Anyone speak Chinese who could tell me what this says under this brass bowl?

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]58907[/ATTACH]

 

 

Many thanks if you can - sorry if it's upside down but I have no idea which way it goes! I'm the wrong side of 60 now and been polishing it since I was at least 5 years of age and never knew what it meant. Probably 'Made in Hong Kong', but....surely not?

 

 

 

A1

[unclebulgaria67]

Says this silver comes from the core of a nuclear reactor and radiation suit should be worn before handling.

[Consumer dude]

Says this silver comes from the core of a nuclear reactor and radiation suit should be worn before handling.

 

You just made that up did'nt you ?

[unclebulgaria67]

Of course i did.

[unclebulgaria67]

There is a site called chinese-tools.com which has a forum where people post pictures to get a translation.

 

I suspect it is a bulk applied writing that means nothing at all.

[determindator]

Antiques Roadshow Hanbury Hall Droitwich Worcestershire 20th Sept. Can't link at the moment but google Antiques Roadshow.

 

 

British Museum should be helpful 0207 323 8299

[andrew1]

Antiques Roadshow Hanbury Hall Droitwich Worcestershire 20th Sept. Can't link at the moment but google Antiques Roadshow.

 

 

British Museum should be helpful 0207 323 8299

 

Thanks determindator and UncleB, I'll take a look at the Chinese site too. Droitwich is a bit far from me though.

 

A1

[caro]

I have a relative in Hong Kong with a Chinese wife. I'll message the picture to him to see if she can help.

[citizenB]

My Son's partner says, sorry it is just the brand name, such as Breville, Tefal, etc.

[andrew1]

My Son's partner says, sorry it is just the brand name, such as Breville, Tefal, etc.

 

There ya go! I knew it was a code of some kind deeply seated and embraced in history...Not Ming or some rich treasure of the East, but M & S of Hong Kong!

 

Be nice know exactly which Pound shop it was though!

 

Thanks CitizenB

[citizenB]

[caro]

My relative came back too and confirms what citizenb said.

 

Hi Caro,

 

I'll be of absolutely no help at all but xxx is checking. It's stamped in quite an unusual style, which makes it a bit hard to decipher. At first blush the view is that it may not be a saying or phrase but rather the logo or name of the manufacturer.

[JoeyJoeC]

Is there an english translation for the brand name?

[andrew1]

Thanks everyone, the strange thing about this is that I was always of the impression that this might have been some base of a munition casing. Why?, I'm not sure, just that it is very heavy and brass which was used in shell casings (I think).

 

It has those 3 feet underneath which might imply it's not a casing at all, but I'll try and photo the rest of it to show the top side, but my phone camera takes about 3 photo's before needing the battery recharged as it's failing badly and needs a new battery. I'll see what I can do and post it up. Getting intriguing.

 

Thanks

 

A1

[unclebulgaria67]

Uranium shells !

 

Does it glow at night ?

[JoeyJoeC]

Uranium shells !

 

Does it glow at night ?

 

Uranium doesn't glow.

[unclebulgaria67]

Uranium doesn't glow.

 

It does in Hollywood movies ! Were you expecting scientific accuracy ?

[citizenB]

It would be interesting to see the whole item, Andrew

[citizenB]

Perhaps keep an eye on the Antique road show venues - if there is one near to you sometime, take it there.

[Mr.P]

Thanks everyone, the strange thing about this is that I was always of the impression that this might have been some base of a munition casing. Why?, I'm not sure, just that it is very heavy and brass which was used in shell casings (I think).

 

Being thick and heavy, it is more likely to be a bronze casting (some bronzes look very similar to brass). The logo doesn't look like a stamping, so this would tend to support the fact that the object is a casting.

[andrew1]

Could well be Mr P. Thanks Polishes up like brass for sure.

 

Here are a few more pictures, but would have been nice to try and date it if I could. As I say, I've been polishing this since I was about 5 back in the early 50's and my mother was a bit of a brass collector - spent many a weekend in my youth polishing her collection of such items.

[JoeyJoeC]

I'm going to say its a pot... of some sort. What's the black inside it?

[citizenB]

That is really quite lovely, Andrew, the little feet do not appear to have been welded on to the bottom, but shaped from the bottom of the bowl.

[andrew1]

I'm going to say its a pot... of some sort. What's the black inside it?

 

I used to be an Industrial Radiographer working in a foundry and to answer your question Joey, it looks like the rough side of a casting to be honest. It's not painted, it's roughish like one might have found with an unfinished piece of metal having been cast in a sand mould - that might answer my own question! I've never really looked at it like that before, but the black looks a natural part of the metal, just unpolished. Good observation, thank you for asking, made me think a little deeper...

[JoeyJoeC]

I posted up images on an antiques forum and got this reply: (I hope you didn't mind)

 

The bowl must be brass not bronze. Looks like white brass to me. Here is short book on markings. The Romanized names in this book are the old style Pinyin names which are no longer used, but otherwise the information is still valid: http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000767721 The two left characters are in seal script and mean "year made". Go to page 35 in the book above and you will see seal script for different reigns. The seal script on the left side will be similar to the one on your pot. Seal script varies from calligrapher to calligrapher. The two characters to the right are the supposed name of the reign in which it was made. The key word is "supposed" or "not to be believed". I am unsure what reign is but it is not important since it is spurious.