Understanding Chinese Reign Marks

Christer Löfgren is honorary-doctor at Luleå University of Technology in Sweden. In 1993 he opened an antique store in Stockholm with an early focus on Chinese porcelain. This specialisation required many visits to China and Jingdezhen to look at porcelain production and study the results of archaeological excavations. He often faced the problem of distinguishing between real and counterfeit Chinese porcelain objects.

In a conversation with an expert on Ming porcelain in Beijing, the expert asked if he could tell the difference between a mark written in the 17th century and one written today; the answer was yes. He also said that modern copied stamps were rigidly made compared to those from the 17th century. In Christer Löfgren's latest book in his series on Chinese imperial porcelain, he offers a radical interpretation of the term" Mark and Period."