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stem attachment
by: peter

Hi Stewart,
Both the Yuan and Ming stems are hollow, usually.
The unglazed clay inside should look the same as unglazed bottoms of the Ming dynasty. They are not white, they are a brownish color. I know nothing of exceptions.
The only picture of the inside of the hollow stem shows no sticking material, either clay or glaze.
It should look similar as when you put glue between two pieces and press them together... the superfluous glue will quell out from between the two pieces, forming a bead along the glue line. In authentic Yuan and Ming porcelain (I had an opportunity to view a Yuan stem inside, recently) the bead remains visible inside, outside it is removed. It has the same brownish color as the unglazed clay in Yuan porcelain, or it is glaze with Ming porcelain. If you cannot see either of the two inside, then this item was likely made later. The bead of clay or glaze was not removed on the inside during the periods mentioned above, normally, I was taught. That is all I can say. If you cannot see it then it was removed, and when it was removed it is nor from the Yuan or Ming period, would my conclusion be.

Sorry for being unable to help more with this.
CLARIFICATION OF METHOD OF ATTACHMENT OF STEM TO THE BOWL
by: Stewart

Hi Peter,

By "paste", I meant the clay(porcelain).
The inside of the stem, that begins at the bowl, is filled with clay,to a thickness of about 7mm.
& then has been smoothed flat to the surrounding walls,while the remainder of the stem is hollow.
I hope this clarifies what I meant.

Peter,does this feature now, support or not, your comments on whether it was a Yuan or Ming practice of attaching the foot to the bowl?

thanking you again,
Stewart.
flaws
by: peter

Basically, included foreign objects would be possible both with period items and new copies, I don't think that can help you decide whether it is the former or the latter.

But the light reflection in the images show slight indenting where the dark spots (presumably iron) has accumulated. That would correspond to what happens in Yuan underglaze blue with the iron in the blue pigment. But I do not know whether this would be exactly the same in red pigment, or until when exactly this would have been the case. Presumably this would have been similar in the early Ming dynasty as some underglaze blue items also show this.

Again, I do not have enough knowledge with underglaze red items to come to a conclusion.
However, what I know is that Yuan wares would be unlikely to have a white clay like this in unglazed places. Those I have seen are mostly brownish-gray.
Also, not sure what you mean with paste, but Yuan stems would have been stuck with wet clay to the cup or bowl, while Ming dynasty items would have been using glaze for sticking. This should be visible inside the stem as the overflow of the material was usually removed on the outside, but not inside.

Why am I talking about Yuan? The birds remind me somewhat of a Yuan type painting style, but overall the item shape, etc. would rather be later. This is my personal opinion.

Stewart, from your comments I can see what seems to concern you. Is it a recently made clever fake or is it an authentic item? I can't answer that, I'm afraid. These things are just too rare to get the necessary experience, unless you work in a museum or have an experienced mentor who knows this specific type of porcelain.

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