Catalog (321)

PLEASE NOTE: WE HAVE RECENTLY RE-ACQUIRED THIS VERY FINE COCOON JAR FROM A CLIENT WHO IS LIQUIDATING HIS ANTIQUE HOLDINGS DUE TO HEALTH ISSUES AND MEDICAL EXPENSES: WHILE WE ARE VERY SADDENED TO LEARN OF THIS CLIENT'S CONDITION AND CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES, WE ARE GRATIFIED AT LEAST TO BE ABLE TO ASSIST THIS WONDERFUL GENTLEMAN IN THIS MANNER, AND TO RE-OFFER THIS FINE COCOON JAR ONCE AGAIN: From our Early Chinese Collection, a very good Qin or Han Dynasty (221 BC- 220 AD) cocoon jar, of well-know...

From our Early Chinese Collection, an excellent neolithic tripod (Li) pottery vessel from the Xiajiadian Culture of either Inner Mongolia or Liaoning Province, circa 2500-1500 BC. These strange, other-worldly looking vessels belie their true age, which is an astonishing 3500 to 4500 years old. Constructed of a buff colored earthenware with partially hollowed-out udder-shaped legs, it has a slender and well-burnished body that flares out to a wide rim. This particular piece has signs of root grow...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a very good Han Dynasty hu jar, most probably Western Han (circa 100 BC - AD 08), of well-known and documented form with a dish-shaped mouth, a molded animal frieze on the upper shoulder, and with two taotie mask handles on either side of the jar. Constructed of reddish earthenware covered in a green lead flux glaze that is somewhat crackled and has fired to an attractive brown in some spots, this jar has acquired a silvery iridescence from burial.

Han D...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a large Machang Phase jar from the Majiayao Culture (2300 - 2000 BC), originating from what is now Gansu province, China. Of well-known and documented form, this fascinating vessel is approximately 4,000 years old and comes with an Oxford TL test. Larger and better potted than is usually found, it is painted with anthropomorphic designs in purplish-black mineral pigments typical of these wares. The meaning of these designs is still the subject of scholarly deba...

From our Early Chinese Collection, an exceptional Northern Qi Dynasty Tomb Guardian (550 - 577 AD), boldly modeled in full military armor with chest and back plates, fringed mail tunics over knee guards, and battle helmet with leather side flaps. His left hand rests upon a leonine shield, the right hand would have clenched a wooden spear which has decomposed long ago. This imposing figure reflects the strong facial features typical of other known Northern Qi statuary, such as the ominous bulging...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a fine and rare pair of Song Dynasty (960 – 1279 AD) qingbai vases on integral bases, with a molded six panel floral sprig design and flared petal-form aperture. The glaze is a very good and very attractive translucent blue/blue green color, deeper where pooled in the recesses. The underside is burnt orange-brown from the firing. They bear exhibition labels from the "1953 South Africa National Gallery Chinese Exhibition," and also the "Henry Brown Collection....

From our Early Chinese Collection, a very rare, large, and striking Song Dynasty (960-1279 AD) stoneware jar with lid, executed in a straw colored glaze over buff colored stoneware (or proto-porcelain as it is sometimes referred to, which is clay fired at higher temperatures than pottery but lower temperatures than true porcelain, which had yet to be invented at that time). The jar has four sets of very distinctive and unusual udder-shaped protuberances in columns of 5, and four illegible, presu...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a rare glazed buddhist offering vessel with Oxford TL test from Yunnan Province, Song Dynasty China (960-1279 AD). The reddish-tinged and heavily potted buff body is decorated with a carved lotus leaf pattern in high relief, signifying “purity,” with the entire vessel covered in a rich emerald-green glaze with a few areas of slight iridescence from burial.

This offering vessel is one of the best examples we have seen from a group of highly obscure a...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a large and magnificent Southern Song Dynasty qingbai funerary urn (960 - 1279 AD). Based upon published and nearly identical examples dated to 1209 AD, we can probably safely date this piece closer to circa 1190 - 1230 AD. The lower bell of this extraordinary lidded urn is smooth and glazed, while the upper section is deeply ribbed and glazed featuring hand-formed and applied figures of people and animals, including a coiled dragon, a tortoise, a cockerel, a...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a rare earthenware Buddhist offering vessel dating from either the Song or Yuan Dynasty (960-1368 AD). This offering vessel is one of a group of several highly obscure and esoteric pottery pieces hailing from Yunnan Province in Southwestern China. The formal scholarship on these pieces is unfortunately thin at best, and we are currently aware of only one publication addressing these pieces at all, which is Michael Teller's Offering Vessels of Yunnan. As Teller ...

From our Japanese Collection, a good Fuyode Ko-Imari Arita blue and white porcelain dish, the term "Fuyode" referring to late 17th century Japanese porcelain painted in the style of Chinese Ming Dynasty porcelain. This is one of the earliest examples of Japanese Arita ware. This dish is painted in underglaze blue with a central panel of flowering peony, and with panels of the “Three Friends of Winter" design (pine, bamboo, and prunus) in the border. The reverse is sparsely painted with karaku...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a rare Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish depicting a stylized version of an earlier Ming Dynasty kraakware design, featuring an eight-sided buddhist wheel or star in the center medallion, surrounded by ogival panels of buddhist emblems, auspicious symbols, and swatiska motifs in the outer border.

Within the vast gamut of Kangxi blue and white wares in general, there is a much smaller sub-category of Kangxi wares that were made in imitatio...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a good Ming Dynasty kraakware dish, late Wanli Period circa 1600-1620, of well-known and documented form, executed in Border VIII style with a central bird some scholars opine is either a magpie or a duck, sitting upon a lotus pond outcropping and encircled by a ten-point buddhist star, further encircled by ten ogival panels of buddhist symbols in the outer border, all executed in a slightly greyish blue on a barbed-form dish with slightly upturned lip...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a Transitional Period (1635 - 1650) blue and white kraakware charger of the rare Border IX Type, depicting 2 figures in a central garden setting, surrounded by alternating figures with Iznik style flowers in the border, known as Border IX . See Kraakware, A Moment in the History of Trade, by Maura Rinaldi, pp 112- 115; (Rinaldi's work is widely considered to be the seminal treatise on Chinese kraakware).

The so-called Transitional Period (or I...

From our Chinese Monochrome Collection, a very fine pair of blanc de chine (dehua) fu dogs modeled as taper stick holders, either late Ming / early Shunzhi (1620-1650), or possibly early Kangxi Period (circa 1662-1690), of well-known and documented form, with each fu dog perched atop a rectangular base with a brocaded ball under its paw and a ribbon held in its mouth. Additionally, each piece exhibits a high degree of hand applique modeling with respect to the ribbons, manes, bells, and tassels,...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an exceptional and large Transitional Period (1635 - 1650) kraakware porcelain bowl of the rare Border IX Type. The center well depicts a scholar being served tea, three trapezoidal-shaped panels on the bowl's inner wall depict figures in various landscape settings, and the outside of the bowl is decorated with six additional panels of figures in various landscape settings. All scenes are separated by narrower panels of what are alternatively calle...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and elegant Kangxi Period (1662-1722) phoenix bowl, early Kangxi Period circa 1675-1690, decorated with two well-painted phoenixes and a treed outcropping, all well-executed in a strong blue against a delicately potted pure white body with everted rim. The interior features a single flower encircled within a medallion of double lines. The base is plain. The footrim is especially finely cut and very neatly glazed exposing just a narrow swath...

From our Shipwreck Ceramics Collection, a charming blanc de chine Guanyin from the Vung Tau Shipwreck circa 1690-1700 (Kangxi Period), one of only 30 ever recovered from this wreck and in this sense quite rare. The Vung Tau Shipwreck refers to a cargo ship of Chinese ceramics that sank in the waters of the Can Doa Islands, nearby to Vung Tao Vietnam between 1690 and 1700, where it had briefly stopped to re-supply on its way to Batavia (Jakarta Indonesia). The wreck, which consisted mostly of ...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a very fine Ming bronze of Guanyin, 16th-17th century, crisply cast with a wonderfully serene countenance, a tiered and pierced diadem (crown), urna on the forehead signifying divine sight, body jewelry, and seated with right hand in verada mudra upon a double lotus base. This piece has developed a nice deep brown / dark gray patina with several areas of greenish verdigris suggesting high copper content to the bronze. We think this piece compares well with tw...

From our Early Chinese Collection, a fine and large Ming Dynasty lead-glazed pottery ridge (roof) tile, 15th-16th century, Hongzhi through Jiajing Period (1488-1566), depicting a guardian-demon ferociously modeled with bulging eyes, protruding fangs, pointed horns, thick musculature, and standing in defensive posture astride a cloud-swirl with fists clenched around what would have been a weapon made of wood or iron, now since rotted away and lost to time. This cloud-swirl between the demon and t...

From our European Collection, a very good 17th century copper plate engraving, most likely English circa 1650-1700, depicting a Chinese official accompanied by his entourage, with subjects kowtowing in the foreground and a crowd of spectators to the rear.

Size and Condition: 7 inches by 5 1/4 inches, very well preserved with only slight creasing.

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine, large, and rare late Shunzhi / early Kangxi porcelain charger circa 1645-1665. This charger is well-painted in a rich blue featuring symmetrically arranged peony sprays within a six-pointed star-shaped central medallion, surrounded on the cavetto with a continuous ring of ruyi head motifs. The reverse features an uncommon double footrim along with Buddhist symbols on the outer border. Interestingly, "chatter marks," (radial lines around t...

An elegant and highly stylized zun-shaped lacquered bronze vase, either Chinese Late Ming Period (1600's) or Japanese Early Edo Period (1600's). This very interesting and attractive piece with its splayed footed base, angular shoulder, and trumpet-shaped mouth that resembles opened floral petals when viewed from the interior, was most likely intended as a flower vase itself, but its intended purpose is no more certain than its actual country of origin. Indeed, despite its presentation of a figur...

From our European Collection, a very good 17th century Italian School oil on canvas, 'Ecce Homo.' An enduringly poignant and iconic image of Christ in Pathos and everything else that this represents, it needs no further elaboration from us.

Size and Condition: Framed dimensions, 31.5 x 25.5 inches; Unframed image size is 25.75 inches x 19.75 inches. The painting has crazing / craquelure consistent with its 17th century age. There is some paint flaking / paint loss towards the bottom, but...

From our European Porcelain Collection, a fine German Volkstedt neoclassical-style milk jug, late 18th century circa 1780-1790, depicting two reserves of young boys engaged in intellectual and artistic pursuits, all very well-executed in polychrome enamels with generous use of gilding.

Size and condition: 3 3/4 inches tall, 4 inches across spout to handle. Enamel and gilding are essentially 99% intact. There is one very small chip with associated gilding loss on the spout, visible only wh...

From our European Porcelain Collection, a fine French Niderviller neoclassical-style porcelain saucer, heavily potted, late 18th century circa 1774-1784. This saucer is executed en grisaille in very fine detail of a sleeping cupid, rendered against a very dark cobalt blue ground that almost appears black. The border is richly gilded, and the reverse contains markings that stand for Count Philibert de Custine, who owned the Niderviller factory during this time period.

Size and Condition: ...

From our European Porcelain Collection, a very fine Doccia (Italian) tin-glazed, hard paste porcelain teacup and saucer, late 18th century circa 1780-1790, probably Ginori factory, very well-painted with a bucolic landscape of what looks like a country estate executed in puce, with a rich baroque border of gilding against a dark cobalt blue ground. This is a truly splendid high quality set.

Size and Condition: Saucer 5 1/4 inches diameter, teacup 3 inches across, 2 7/8 inches tall. Only s...

From our European Porcelain Collection, an exceptionally well-painted 18th century Meissen coffee pot from the so-called "Dot Period" (1732-1773), probably 1740-1760, depicting a serenade or courtship scene with what is either two musicians or perhaps two suitors, attempting to curry the favor of a Lady, all executed in puce with gilt highlights upon a very white, hard paste porcelain body. Meissen crossed swords with dot in blue on the base.

What is interesting for collectors of both Chin...

From our European Porcelain Collection, an important and historically significant Meissen armorial plate, ex-Sotheby's, from the Munchhaussen family dinner service gifted by Augustus III to Gerlach Adolf von Munchhaussen in 1745. The decoration is executed in puce with gilt highlights, painted in the "fabletier" style of mythical beasts set against a landscape of birds and insects, all set beneath the Munchhaussen family coat of arms with a foliate scroll border on the rim. Meissen crossed sword...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a lovely Kangxi Period (1662-1722) export dish with barbed rim, depicting a flowering tree in a fenced garden setting in the center medallion, with eight panels in smaller scale repeating the same pattern on the border, and with flowering branches and an auspicious buddhist symbol in double circles on the reverse, all painted in a deep and attractive Kangxi blue.

Size and Condition: 8 3/4 inches in diameter, 1 1/4 inches deep, one small chip to ...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an interesting so-called "Scholar's Examination Dish,” Kangxi Period (1662-1722), decorated in a slightly greyish underglaze blue, depicting a leaping carp juxtaposed against a fierce dragon clutching at the flaming pearl of wisdom, with wave shaped aquatic motifs on the border, and a square fu character on the reverse.

We have not researched the symbolism of this particular piece ourselves, but we are told by a colleague that the leaping carp...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very interesting late 18th century export porcelain plate, depicting an unusual subject matter of a gondolier in what is either an Italian canal in Venice, or a Dutch canal in Amsterdam. The plate is executed in a good underglaze blue with an unidentified edifice in the foreground, and a border of floral motifs. Perhaps architecture buffs can recognize with specificity what the edifice is, and nail down for us whether this is actually an Italian or D...

From our Chinese Monochrome Collection, a fine blanc de chine (dehua) porcelain figure of a seated dignitary, Kangxi Period (1662-1722), seated on a low plinth and crisply modeled with an elaborate dragon badge to chest, a ruyi scepter in his left hand, and a pensive downward gaze. Holes under the ears and around the mouth were originally for placement of animal hair to form the beard. In virtually perfect condition, there are two small firing cracks, but these are original to the manufacture an...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a good teacup and saucer ex-Sotheby's, from the Ca Mau Cargo, Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), executed in the "Tu Hai" pattern in underglaze blue.

This particular teacup and saucer is a very good example that somehow managed to survive over two centuries under the sea, essentially unscathed. Shipwreck porcelain comes off the sea floor in a wide variety of conditions, with many pieces utterly destroyed, others cracked and chipped, others whole but enc...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a good blue and white teacup and saucer in the "Batavian Bamboo Pattern," ex-Christie's, from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to th...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine blue and white dish, ex-Christie's, executed in the "Peony and Pomegranate Pattern" from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to...

From our Japanese Collection, a fine and large mid-to-late 18th century blue and white porcelain dish, circa 1740-1780, painted in the Chinese style depicting a home with people on an embankment, a treed outcrop in the distance with geese flying overhead, and some unidentified structures in the foreground. The entire scene is surrounded by a border of characters, and all executed in a greyish blue on dense grey porcelain paste, typical of 18th century Japanese Arita ware. The back of the dish is...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a charming little export ware teacup and saucer, late Kangxi to Yongzheng Period (1700- 1735), with loosely painted floral motifs both on saucer and tea bowl, all executed in an attractive blue.

Size and Condition: Saucer 5 1/2 inches in diameter, teacup 3 1/4 inches across, 2 inches tall. Small nick to lip of teacup

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an extremely well-painted pair of Qianlong Period (1736-1795), "soft paste" porcelain dishes, depicting what is probably a tea merchant's house on the bank of the Pearl River in Canton, including the typical "river scene" elements of bridges, water, land masses, and distant mountains, all executed in an especially vibrant blue, with an ornate border richly decorated in a combination of butterflies, ruyi head, and cash diaper motifs.

The design o...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a fine Qianlong Period (1736-1795) sauce tureen base of rectangular form with chamfered corners, depicting a gentleman with ladies on a fenced terrace pavilion along with a flowering tree, surrounded by an intricate border design of cash diaper motifs, key frets, and flower sprigs, all executed in deep blue upon a body of dense 18th century export porcelain.

This particular example is quite unusual due to its subject matter. While in various inc...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a very good Qianlong Period (1736-1795) Famille Rose porcelain dish, depicting a domestic scene of a husband, wife, and child sitting upon a bench, while their servant plays fetch with the family dog, all well-painted and better than average for typical export ware. The skill of the painter is evidenced here by amongst other things, the skillful use of shading in the blue, green, and pink enamels of the folds of the clothing to create depth and texture. Th...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a charming and unpretentious Famille Rose teacup and saucer, Qianlong Period (1736-1795), most likely late Qianlong 1760-1785, decorated in a delicate floral pattern in Famille Rose palette, with a Batavian Brown (iron oxide) dressing on the reverse.

Size and Condition: The saucer is 5 inches in diameter, the teacup 2 7/8 inches across, 1 1/2 inches tall. Small inconsequential nick to footrim of teacup essentially perfect.

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine Qianlong Period (1736-1795), blue and white sauce tureen base of rectangular form with chamfered corners, depicting a river scene with fenced pagodas, people, bridges, and boats on water, with a meticulously intricate border design of cash diaper motifs, butterflies, key frets, and other details, all executed in an attractive blue of varying shades upon a body of dense 18th century export porcelain.

Qianlong Period export ware such a...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very rare Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish, which is actually a Kangxi version of an earlier Japanese version of yet an even earlier Ming kraakware design, depicting a flower basket in the center medallion, surrounded by ogival panels of buddhist objects and auspicious symbols in the outer border, all very well-painted in varying shades of good Kangxi blue with an excellent glaze.

To novice eyes, this dish probably looks like just anot...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an exceptionally rare Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish made in the Transitional Period style, depicting a man and two boys in the center well, with the border executed in a facsimile of the Border IX Transitional Period kraakware design of 1635-1650. Maura Rinaldi discusses the Border IX design in "Kraak Porcelain, A Moment in the History of Trade" p. 112-115.

This dish is a highly obscure and esoteric item that is probably best suited on...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a fine Qianlong Period (1736-1795) large export porcelain dish or small charger, depicting "Three Friends of Winter," pine, prunus, and bamboo, in a fenced garden setting with floral sprigs and cash diaper motifs on the border. The reverse is plain.

This is an unusually well-executed example of 18th century export ware. The painting is very refined and precise, with delicate shading to the flowers, and a wonderful sense of restraint and proporti...

From our Japanese Collection, a fine and rare early 18th century blue and white porcelain Arita bowl, Edo Period circa 1700-1730, painted in the Chinese style, depicting Shoulao (the Chinese god of wisdom and longevity) on a flying crane in the center well, with four alternating reserves depicting the Eight Immortals on the outer wall, separated by reserves of shou characters (Chinese good luck signs), and all executed in a slightly greyish underglaze blue typical of early 18th century Arita wa...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and rare pair of Kangxi Mark and Period (1662 - 1722) aster dishes, ex- Christie's (see last photos for actual Christie's catalog listing), well-executed in a deep Mohammedan blue, with three aster blooms painted amidst a reserve of scrolling tendrils on shallow petal-lobed bodies. These are encircled by sixteen aster sprays symmetrically painted on the border and repeated on the reverse, along with the six character Kangxi Mark (and of the...

From our Japanese Collection, a very fine and very early imari charger, late 17th - early 18th century (circa 1690-1730), decorated with a flower pot, a scholar’s rock, and a large tree in full bloom upon a terraced pavilion, all executed in the typical early imari palette of blue, orange-red, and gilt, with the border done in a rich brocade of flower motifs.

Ordinarily, we do not gravitate much towards early Japanese imari simply on aesthetic grounds. These earlier pieces, while of cou...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a truly once in a lifetime find, this massive and breathtaking piece is an exceptionally rare Kangxi Period (1662- 1722) blue and white porcelain fishbowl, ex-Sotheby’s, potted in classic deep U-form with rolled rim. It is very well-painted in a rich underglaze blue of the highest quality, the design depicting Chinese style flower baskets within four individual lotus shaped cartouches, each separated by reserves of stylized aster sprays. Additionally...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine blue and white porcelain dish, ex-Christie's, executed in the "Boatman Pattern" from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to the ...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a truly superb example of Qianlong Period (1736-1795) Famille Rose porcelain, depicting a lady receiving what is either wine or tea, while her female servant attends to her with a fan. The outer border is decorated with eight individual reserves executed alternatively in either puce or black, with each puce reserve so well-executed that they are essentially miniature paintings in their own right. The inner border is decorated with smaller puce cartouches ...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine Kangxi (1662-1722) Mark and Period porcelain dish depicting a scholar with two ladies on a terraced pavilion, bordered by two bunches of flowering branches on the outer rim. The scene is probably derived from an earlier wood-block print. The reverse is decorated with flower sprigs on the outer rim, with a well-drawn six character Kangxi mark of the period contained within double circles in the center. The dish is executed in high quality un...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine Kangxi (1662-1722) Mark and Period porcelain dish depicting a distinguished gentleman and an elegant lady exchanging glances under the willow tree of a fenced pavilion. Cross-hatched motifs decorate the border, along with four vignettes of peaches signifying longevity. The reverse is decorated with what appears to be stylized mountains on the outer rim, with the six character Kangxi mark of the period contained within double circles in th...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and unusual Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish of European form, depicting two gentlemen discussing business alongside a boat dock while an attendant stands nearby with tea. This particular dish is extremely well-painted with a proficiency that rivals even some of our better mark and period pieces, and is executed in a very rich palette of four different shades of cobalt blue. On the reverse, there are stylized branch motifs along w...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine blue and white dish, ex-Christie’s, executed in the "Boatman Pattern" from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to the bottom ...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine Kangxi (1662-1722) Mark and Period porcelain dish depicting two elegant ladies in a garden setting containing scholar’s rocks and banana leaf plants; one lady holds a fan while the other holds her hands clasped together. Cross-hatched motifs decorate the border along with four vignettes of peaches signifying longevity. The reverse is decorated with what appears to be a stylized “clouds and mountains” design on the outer rim, with the...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an unusually fine Qianlong Period (1736-1795) tureen base or shallow basin, depicting a river scene with a large fenced pagoda, a stone bridge, and several people on boats and pontoons, together with a meticulously intricate border of ruyi heads, cash diaper motifs, key frets, butterflies, and other marvelous details.

This piece is top quality in terms of "Nanking Ware" (not to be confused with Nanking Cargo Shipwreck pieces); it really gets no ...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine and large blue and white Ca Mau Shipwreck dish ex-Sotheby's, Yongzheng Period 1723-1735, datable more specifically to circa 1725. The scene depicts Europeans (most likely Dutch traders) on what was once mistakenly thought to be Deshima Island in Nagasaki Harbor Japan, but which recent scholarship now concludes is either a scene of Holland in the Netherlands, or Gothenborg in Sweden. We personally agree with the academic viewpoint that the scene dep...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a very fine and well-painted Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish with apocryphal Chenghua Period mark, depicting two elegant ladies looking out over a terrace with banana leaf plants and trees. Cross-hatched motifs decorate the border along with four vignettes of peaches signifying longevity. The reverse is decorated with stylized mountains on the outer rim, and a six character apocryphal Chengua Period mark is contained within double circles in ...