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This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish, or shallow bowl, was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick glaze and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. The decoration features a pheasant in a garden. The inner wall is undecorated and around the flat rim there are six roundels containing floral patterns surrounded by a repeating diaper pattern. The underside is sparsely decorated with jus...

This blue & white "Swatow" porcelain dish was made during the Wanli Reign (1573 - 1620) of the Ming Dynasty. It is coated in a thick crackled glaze and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue of very good colour. The decoration is the "double phoenix" pattern, two phoenixes standing facing each other, presumably male and female, surrounded by foliage and peony blossoms. Swatow, or Zhangzhou ceramics, were often exporte...

This attractive moulded porcelain bowl with an iron-brown edged foliate rim was made during the 18th century. The underglaze blue decoration of very good colour features three human figures in a garden. Around the outer wall is an elaborate scrolling design.

Diameter 13 cm. It is in fine condition with no repair or restoration and a good ring when tapped.

For information: This bowl was sold to a local collector by o...

This rare pear-shaped vase or bottle was made during the Yuan Dynasty (AD 1279 - 1368) by one of the kilns at Yuxi county in Yunnan province, one of the first places in the world where blue & white ware was produced. It is "heavily-potted" and decorated in underglaze cobalt blue with floral and leaf designs. It is coated with a clear glaze that falls short of the heavy irregularly cut foot. Similar wares were first unearthed in 1973 in Lufe...

This blue and white porcelain bowl with flared rim was made during the late 15th - early 16th century (Hongzhi reign 1488 – 1505). The outer wall is decorated in underglaze blue with a honeycomb pattern. The central decoration is loosely based on a vajra (Buddhist sceptre) with various other decorations around the inner wall. It is coated in a finely-crackled glaze.

Diameter 14.5 cm. Condition is very good: there is a hairlin...

This sturdy ridge tile in the form of a seated lion-dog dates to the latter part of the Ming Dynasty (c. 1600 - 1644). It is coated in a thick and finely-crackled attractive turquoise glaze. The curved underneath of the tile remains unglazed and has the impressions of a finely-woven cloth on which it must have been placed during manufacture.

Height 22 cm. There is a chip to one ear and kiln scars on both sides of the animal's mout...

This large and impressive pottery jar was made over 4,000 years ago during the Machang Phase (c. 2300 - 2000 BC) of the Majiayao culture, also known as the Gansu-Yangshao culture, from present day Gansu or Qinghai province. It is quite "heavily-potted" with a smooth surface and is fairly highly-fired. The surface colour of the pottery varies in places, a result of uneven conditions during firing. It has a short neck with flared m...

This fine and impressive pottery jar (hu) was made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220). It is made from a fairly high-fired reddish pottery and coated in a particularly attractive glossy thick streaky green and finely-crackled glaze, the colour of which varies according to its thickness. Interestingly, the drips of glaze to the mouth rim and the pooling of glaze to the flat base show that this jar was fired upsid...