This seal is an "Export approval mark" and it is called a "Jianding". They have been issued from around 1949 and are still being put on any old looking porcelain which are to be allowed to be exported out of China. It does not guarantee anything except this.
In practical use, when applying these exports permits to pieces, and the answer you usually gets when asking around in China, is that no pieces older then 100 years gets this seal.
The seal is thus no GUARANTEE that the piece is antique. By law it could be made from 1795 up to absolutely modern. In practice it is most likely made in the mid 1920s up to the 1950s when the production of "antique looking Chinese porcelain" made with traditional methods were particularly intense and a great deal of the Chinese porcelain industry at large was surviving by making this kind of porcelain.
Originally there were two different state departments in charge of the exportation of antiques from China. It was the State Export Department, active between 1949-86 and the Cultural Relics Bureau, of which only the latter are still active.
Before the late 1980s there also seems to have been four main export bureaus, located in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Guangzhou (Canton). After this time many provinces seems to have gotten their own export bureaus since from then on new seals have appeared from Hunan, Jijiang, Quangxi, Hebei etc.
So far only one instance is known where a seal (Mark 266 below) has been issued on anything older then mid 19th century and not even this is entirely certain. I will change this statement as soon as anything supporting a contrary view is availably.
The marks section of Gotheborg.com was initially established in May 2000 thanks to a generous donation of approximately one hundred images of Japanese porcelain marks, by Karl-Hans Schneider from Euskirchen, Germany. This contribution provided a modest yet substantial beginning of the Marks Section. It was a kind gesture that I really appreciated.
Of the many later contributors, I would especially want to mention Albert Becker, Somerset, UK, who was the first to help with some translations and comments on the Japanese marks. His work was then greatly extended by Ms. Gloria S. Garaventa, after which Mr. John Avery looked into and corrected some of the dates. Most of the Satsuma marks were originally submitted by Ms. Michaela Russell, Brisbane, Australia. A section which was then greatly extended by Ian & Mary Heriot, a large amount of information from which still awaits publication.
A warm thank you also goes to John R. Skeens, Florida, U.S.A., and Toru Yoshikawa for the Kitagawa Togei section, and to Susan Eades for her help and encouragement towards the creation of the Moriyama section. For the last full overhaul of the Satsuma and Kutani sections, thank you to Howard Reed, Australia. The most recent larger contribution was made by Lisa M. Surowiec, New Jersey, USA.
In 2004 and from then on, my warm thank you goes to John Wocher and Howard Reed, whose knowledge and interest have sparked new life into this section and given reason for a new overhaul. Thank you again and thank you to all I have not mentioned here, for all help and interest in and contributions to our knowledge of 20th-century Japanese porcelain.
The Chinese marks section would not have been possible without the dedicated help of Mr. Simon Ng, City University of Hong Kong, whose translations and personal efforts in researching the origin and dates of the different marks have been an invaluable resource. It has since been greatly extended by several contributors such as Cordelia Bay, USA, Walt Brygier, USA, Bonnie Hoffmann, Harmen Lensink, 'Tony' Yalin Zhang, Beijing, 'ScottLoar', Shanghai, Mike Harty, and many more expert members of the Gotheborg Discussion Board.
A number of reference pieces have also been donated by Simon Ng, N K Koh, Singapore, Hans Mueller, USA, Hans Slager, Belgium, William Turnbull, Canada, and Tony Jalin Zhang, Beijing.
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