Chinese Buddha Incense Burner

I am interested in a ball park value of this incense burner. I see them range from $20-$495 on Ebay, but those don't have the same mark on the bottom. This looks like Jade, but I don't know if it's real Jade or not or if Jade is even valuable. There is a Chinese (?) mark on the bottom. Does that mean anything? Any information on this piece would be greatly appreciated. Photos attached.

 

I tried for a better view of the mark -

 

Thanks. I didn't know which way to turn it, but it's visible at least.

 

Forgot to mention: It's 4" tall and 3" in diameter.

 

I never know which way they go either.

 

I'm not sure of these markings. It doesn't look like Chinese or Japanese characters to me. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of Asian languages will chime in.

I do think this pot shaped incense burner with 3 legs, dragon handles and feet, and topped with a happy Buddha is handsome. I'm not sure of the material, but don't think it is jade?? You might look through the following website of incense burners. It has quite an array of them cataloged by Location, Material, Shapes, Figure, and Type. Do look through "Location" > "Asia" that includes China, Japan, India and Korea. You will see several with dragon head handles and dragon/beast feet. To get a feel of what jade ones look like, look through the category "Material" > "Precious Stone."
http://www.kandaki.com/

The site has plenty of pictures, but does lack detailed info on the burners. Some of them include a link to a site on line where the particular burner is or was located at one time. The images enlarge when clicked.

--- Susan

 

Maybe Korean? Not sure...

 

This is a decorative/souvenir type item. Metal construction is individually fabricated brass pieces soldered together, a method not normally used in historic/collectible orientalia. Bowl is probably ceramic, not natural mineral, but given the low quality of this item, if it is a mineral it is an ordinary souvenir-stock mineral like alabaster, onyx, etc. The mark on the bottom is meaningless given the junky item it is on. Value IMO is at the low end of what you were seeing on Eboo.

 

Ok, this is exactly what I needed to know. I appreciate the honesty! I will probably just put it in the shop. Won't waste my time on it. It makes sense because it came with some other items that were sort of junky, BUT it does look cool for someone who likes Asian stuff. Thanks again.

 

Spring? Are you getting cranky? Dare I say Jaded?

I don't think it is as bad as Spring thinks. While I agree that this is not an old or high-end item, I have seen a lot worse. I do think the base material is some kind of stone. Maybe soapstone or dyed alabaster. I don't know if it is ebay worthy or not. It is the kind of thing I would put in my shop at less than $30.00 to start and mark down if necessary at some point.

 

You can try to tell diff between ceramic and stone if you need to, stone bowl shapes are lathe-turned nowadays and will be pretty much perfectly even and smooth over all surfaces. Any little pops, bumps, blisters usually mean ceramic. If this item has a solid stone body it is probably worth 20% more than a ceramic one. Still junk IMO.