A Few Vintage Mud Men for Sale

[grouper52]

I've always been more drawn to Chinese penjing than Japanese bonsai. On occasion I have run across great vintage Mud Men that touched me in some way, although I've only twice used any of the four here as part of a penjing scene. They are attractive in their own right, though, and feel a bit like old friends to me by now. Still, since I'm selling off my bonsai now, I thought someone else might appreciate having these guys around now. Even if they don't sell, it was gratifying to photograph and post them here. Enjoy.

1. Sleeping it off, this guy under the right tree looks quite convincing. 3 3/4" tall. $40 plus postage.

 

[grouper52]

2. Two Guys Sitting, 3 3/4" tall - $30 + shipping.

 

[grouper52]

3. Two Officials Meet Some Guy, tallest figure 5" - $100 + shipping.

 

[grouper52]

4. Old Fisherman, 7 1/2" tall, some minor chips and damage (can be easily painted over, IMHO) - $30 + shipping.

 

[agraham]

What are the markings(if any) on the bottoms?

 

[A Random User]

If they are very old, they shouldn't have any markings at all...
in fact they would have a hole going up through the middle of them,
where the clay was put on the end of a stick, and shaped, then let
to dry. Later on, molds were made and slip cast.

 

[grouper52]

What are the markings(if any) on the bottoms?

There's nothing that looks like a stamp except on the three men, each of which has some illegible thing, followed by, "jinjiang" I think, and below that, "China."