Mark sources cited
大生 · mark readings
大生 is the two-character name mark associated with Fan Dasheng. The museum examples connect this reading with flower- and melon-shaped pots, while keeping other marks on those vessels separate.
On this page
Start with the reading
大生
Separate the surname 范 in the catalogue attribution from the two characters actually recorded, 大生. Try following just those two characters across the Sihai plates: the base on the first pot, the lids on the next two. On the Palace Museum melon-shaped pot, look instead at the lower end of the handle.
A documented vessel
Six-lobed flower-shaped teapot with 大生, catalogued as early twentieth century. Palace Museum no. 73 (p. 114) records 大生 at the lower handle of a melon-shaped pot, alongside other inscriptions. Its base date belongs to that object, not to every 大生 mark. [2] [3]
The catalogue records 大生 on three further vessels. Compare the position on each one. [4]
- 福寿壶 · p. 106 (PDF 132). Base 大生
- 合菱壶 · p. 108 (PDF 134). Lid 大生
- 竹段壶 · p. 110 (PDF 136). Lid 大生
How far the evidence goes
Xu Xiutang’s seal chapter supplies a comparison for the named maker; the museum catalogue links readings to an identified vessel. This supports the documented association. It does not authenticate another pot carrying the same characters. [1] [2]
Compare the complete vessel, the position of every mark, its dimensions and stroke structure, and the collection history. Keep a catalogue’s date, an inscription’s date and a maker attribution distinct. Repeated publication of the same object is not independent provenance.
Sources checked for this entry; not an authentication service or a complete inventory of this maker’s seals.
Sources and exact locations
- 徐秀棠，《中国紫砂》，上海古籍出版社，1998 / 2000. ISBN 7-5325-2335-7. p. 57; PDF page 88.
- The Art of the Yixing Potter: The K.S. Lo Collection, Flagstaff House Museum of Tea Ware, Urban Council, Hong Kong, 1990. ISBN 962-215-096-9. Catalogue 74, p. 187; PDF page 191. C81.313.
- 故宫博物院编，王健华主编，《你应该知道的200件宜兴紫砂》，紫禁城出版社，2007. ISBN 978-7-80047-648-8. Catalogue 73, p. 114; PDF page 117.
- 许四海，《吾壶四海：四海壶具博物馆藏清末民国宜兴紫砂壶百件》 · 上海文化出版社 · 2009 · ISBN 978-7-80740-462-0 · p. 106 (PDF 132), 108 (PDF 134), 110 (PDF 136).