Help deciphering the characters on an antique brass bowl - left to me by my Chinese grandfather, I'd love to know what they mean.

[Alice95]

I wondered if anyone could help me translate these characters - they are etched onto the base an old antique brass bowl.

 

The bowl was given to me by my Chinese grandfather when he died and I would love to know more about it.

 

The photo is attached.

 

I think these might be classical Chinese characters?

 

Any help very much appreciated.

 

Kind regards,

 

Melissa

[Publius]

弄珠樓

Unclear what it refers to. Could be a place name, a traditional Ci (poetry) tune, a story/operetta by a Ming Dynasty writer.

弄(nong4) - to play with

珠(zhu1) - pearl

樓(lou2) - a multi-story building

[Shelley]

弄 -lòng  according my dictionary can also mean lane or alley, is it possible it means Pearl Lane Building?

 

I would never wish to contradict or correct @Publius but I just though maybe a different pair of eyes might shed some light on it.

 

As usual I am probably completely wrong but just wanted to add my two cents in case there was any value in it.

[889]

That'd more likely be 珠弄, wouldn't it?

 

樓 can also be part of a business name -- think of some restaurants, for example -- and 弄珠 sounds like it could be the name of a shop dealing in jewelry and similar high-end goods. That is, this could be a shop mark.

 

Of course, this is why it's more than considerate to always post a photo of the item itself, not just a keyhole view of the mark.

 

 

[dwq]

The simplest explanation is that it is a name.  樓弄珠.  樓 is a surname in Chinese and that explains why it is in a larger size too.

[lips]

Should be read from right to left.

[dwq]

 

2 hours ago, lips said:

Should be read from right to left.

Hmm... I'd say you're probably right, but without context it's hard to be sure, and it wouldn't surprise me if it is the other way round.

And it's true 弄珠樓 works in a lot of context too.