The Lemon Fool

Can someone translate this for me please? Just curious.



Julian F. G. W.

"Made in China"

"the one who drinketh from this vase will have eternal life"

Dishwasher safe ?

'Property of Oriental Hotel.
Do not remove.'

"Sorry boss, this was the best I could do. D'you think they'll notice that it looks like a stag night in a disco?"

I obviously posted this on the wrong board (This is DAK!)

I hope that this thread elicits a serious response before it gets locked. At the very least, an idea of whether it is Chinese, Japanese or whatever would be appreciated. I am beginning to wonder whether it is Japanese but I am no expert on such matters. I agree that it is not the most ornate piece of oriental/whatever pottery.

This is my effort (starting bottom right, I think that is correct):

Adult and child;
Man peeing into a bucket;
Three snakes. The middle one is French (he is wearing a beret);
Mother cat and kitten in a basket;
Man peeing into a bucket (again);
Not sure, a cider press?;
Two teens with spiky hair dancing;
A motorbike (aerial view).

I'm sure I could make up a story but this really is the wrong board for that.

Julian F. G. W.

Almost seriously - there are just too many obvious allusions to drinking cups, wine presses and dancing for this to be proper Chinese or Japanese, both of which are much more stylised.

So, in a spirit of IDK rather than DAK, it's hard to think that it's anything other than a tongue-in-cheek pastiche of some sort. IIRC, there's a graphic image comparison facility on Google Chrome that will have a try at matching your pic against Google's vast image library. (I haven't used it in ages.) My best effort at a helpful answer.

BJ

Although I take bungeejumper's point, I think they could be genuine characters. They are though in a flowing stylised script, (not altogether uncommon) neither the traditional Chinese characters nor the new 'simplified' style beloved by the current powers in Beijing. Did the vase come from say Hong Kong or Singapore?

Dod

I am currently working alongside a Chinese contractor.

I am told that this script is of a very old type, maybe used two or three thousand years ago.

The left side characters infer that the: Value (of the vase) is in keeping a nice smell.

The right hand side characters continue with this theme: The tree’s nice flower smell (top two characters, right side) forever to keep.

jfgw wrote:Man peeing into a bucket

Googling around this looks like the Chinese radical "fragrant," which ties in with BBLSP1's workmate's assessment.

C.

According to my scarily erudite Chinese wife it means - "May flower fragrance last forever, fortune and prosperity leaves everlasting aroma".