AN OFFICIAL CHINESE GOVERNMENT COMMENDATION, DATED 1920.
The document is an official eulogy or commendation in praise of the lady Yoh Ai-Mei, wife of Kuan Wei-Hsien, dated the 5th month, 9th year of the Republic. The official seal impression is enormous at very nearly 5 inches square. The paper has been laid onto stiff cardboard and is stable. At one time framed, the original backboard is present and has a doc ...click for details
The bronze depicts Krishna subduing the poisonous Naga (snake) Kaliya. Having assumed the entire weight of the universe Krishna dances on Kaliya’s heads until Kaliya’s wives plead for him to be spared.
Probably from southern India and dating from the late 18th century ~ early 19th ...click for details
A JAPANESE KO-IMARI EXPORT DISH, CIRCA 1660 ~ 1680
This style of dish is known as Fuyode and is the Arita equivalent of the Chinese Wanli dish. The famous Wanli ‘Kraak’ dishes were favoured in the Netherlands and when it became impossible for the Dutch to trade safely with China they ordered porcelains to be made in Arita. Some of these porcelains were copied from Dutch Delft pottery examples and some of these ...click for details
A very well crafted round box and cover decorated with a rampant dragon and flaming pearl.
The deep blue enamel exhibits an interesting effect rather like the use of mixed colours where its surface is covered for the most part with a pale bluish enamel crystalline surface. I haven’t ...click for details
A CHINESE ROBIN’S EGG GLAZED WATER POT FOR THE SHOLAR’S TABLE.
This charming globular water coupe is decorated with sprigs of flowering prunus, suggesting the arrival of Spring, against a mottled turquoise and deep blue ‘Robin’s Egg’ glaze. The interior is thinly glazed with the turquoise.
FOUR CHINESE EXPORT PAINTINGS SIGNED ZHOU PEICHUN, LATE 19TH CENTURY.
Each painting depicts perhaps a famous figure from Chinese history, painted in gouache on handmade paper, not pith paper. Each is titled and also has the four-character seal of the painter Zhou Peichun.
Craig Clunas makes a brief reference to Zhou Peichun i ...click for details
A SPLENDID MING POLYCHROME SWATOW SHOULAO BOWL, 16TH ~ 17TH CENTURY.
The deep bowl is profusely decorated with green and red enamel flowers around a central medallion depicting Shoulao admiring a dancing crane, painted in the characteristic turquoise blue enamel. Swatow bowls would appear to be harder to find than dishes.
A RARE & UNUSUAL CHINESE ENAMELLED PEACH DISH, 18TH ~ 19TH CENTURY.
The dish is cleverly decorated with branches bearing peaches; the design carrying over the rim to the back. The design seems to have been in use over a hundred years or so, certainly Kangxi examples are published. The absence of a mark on this example makes it difficult to give a certain date but early 19th century, perhaps Jiaqing would b ...click for details
Three charming gouache paintings on pith paper depicting exotic Chinese birds. Each is lightly mounted on to paper and bordered with faded green silk. They appear to be foxed but it is just the backing paper that has foxed as you can see in my last photograph where I have slipped a clean piece of paper behind the pith paper. It should be an easy task to remove the fox ...click for details
A fine and large porcelain dish featuring two confronting dragons disputing the ownership of the flaming pearl, all within an attractive border of breaking waves. The back of the plate is decorated with auspicious symbols and within the foot-rim is an apocryphal six-character Ming Chenghua reign mark sometimes found on wares from the early Kangxi period.
...click for details
