I have a gilded seashell imprint bowl marked: “ITALY 1847” with a porcelain coating on the inside (makes a high pitched gong sound when tapped) and what appears to be wood grain -underneath a red stain – underneath the gilding. Is this my imagination? The inside porcelain looks as if it were coil wrapped, but I suppose it may have been wood carved to appear that way… or maybe swelling of a tree’s rings. Any info is greatly appreciated thank you!
The last piic did not show !! Pretty sure your bowl is made of Papier Mache` !! Do not think it was made in 1847 !! The coating you mentioned would be normal for papier mache` as well as the red undercoat !! The bottom shows the papier fibers that were compressed to make the bowl !! You can google search to see many more examples !! It can e quite collectable !! Please use the reply rather than comment so I will know that someone has answered !!
Is this bowl fairly lightweight compared to a china or pottery bowl ?? You did not include a pic of the inside !! Red is a common color for a basecoat when gilding or gold leaf is used !! Try taking a pic of the inside and include the top edge of the bowl !! Get as close as you can without blurring the pic !!
Is the bottom mark impressed into the bowl or written ?? Can`t see the mark well enough to tell !!
oh and the mark was done witha small smooth pointy surface. Doesn’t dig in deep, but the date is very clean and neat. Calligraphy-esk if you will
Sorry, obviously I’m not very savvy with this site. I put a couple more photos up^^^ As far as the weight its kind of perplexing. It almost as if it feels inbalanced. Sorta the opposite of when you hold a lamp with a weighted base. Like the top is heavier than the bottom almost making you want to hold it upsidedown. It’s altogether probably 2 lbs. I’ll get the exact weight and better pics next time I go to storage too.