WHEN I WAS LOOKING AT THE YIXING CERAMIC WORK IT WAS AMAZING THE MANY FORMS THEY HAD ON HAND. IT LOOKED LIKE THEY COPYIED ANYTHING THEY SAW IN OLD BOOKS AS WELL AS MADE UP WILD DESIGNS AS THEY WENT. THIS WAS EARLY WHEN THE SHOPS ALL OVER CHINA WERE FULL OF ITEMS THAT HAD BEEN SITTING ON THE SHELF FOR MANY YEARS DUE TO LACK OF CUSTOMERS. A LOT OF THAT STUFF HAS SLOWLY BEEN SOLD TO TOURISTS AND ON EBAY SINCE CHINA OPENED UP TO TRADE. THE OLD STUFF IS USUALLY BETTER MADE THAN WHAT THEY ARE MAKING NOW UNFORTUNATELY. MANDARIN IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE AND BASED ON MONGOLIAN SO PERHAPS THIS IS A COPY MADE OF EARLY MONGOLIAN TIMES ? THE EARLY REPLICAS WERE OFTEN MADE VERY MUCH LIKE THE ORIGINALS TO FOOL THE CHINESE COLLECTOR AND HAD TO BE VERY WELL DONE TO DO THAT. PERHAPS THAT IS WHAT YOU HAVE AT ANY RATE I LIKE IT , KINDS OF GROWS ON YOU LIKE A UGLY BULLDOG .
