Catalog (37)

This small but fine piece belongs to the Maklaiheung's QingBai Collections. About Qingbai Wares: "The special characteristic comes from the body, which is natural porcelain clay, and its glaze, which is made by diluting in water the porcelain body material mixed with lime." "Rims on qingbai bowls and dishes were also sometimes fitted with a silver band in the same manner as the Northern Ding wares, to cover the unglazed rims."- Gotheborg Condition: Good. No sign of repair or restorati...

A must-have Qingbai porcelain piece. Diameter: 13.8 cm Condition: Good, no chips, no repairs. A small firing crack at the base.Price: USD $100; CAD $135 (13% HST will be applied on all sales in Canada).

Diameter: 13.97 cm Condition: Good. Two Chinese characters marked at the base: Wu Zhai. Price: USD $120; CAD $160 (13% HST will be applied on all sales in Canada).

A Tang Dynasty (618-907CE) moulded pottery figure of a sleeping duck. It is roughly made but the immediacy of the potter’s observation catches the life of the bird. Price: $260 USD; $340 CAD (HST of 13% will be applied on all sales in Canada). Height: 5 cm; width:5 cm. Condition: Intact and good with no repairs.

This small but elegant late Qing Geyao vase is in double gourd (Hulu) shape. The green to grey glaze with a pleasing pattern of dark brown crackle lines, covers the whole vase, inside and out, with the exception of the foot rim. Size: Height: 10.7 cm. Condition: Excellent condition, with only light scratches to the glaze. Purchased in Hong Kong in 1995. Price: USD $260; CAD $350 (13% HST will be applied on all sales in Ontario.)

This Sancai plate dated to Liao - Jin period (1115-1125), features an incised Haitang flower with open leaves around it in the centre. Begonia is the type of flower that is commonly seen in other Liao Sancai wares. The flower is coloured white with a bright red pistil surrounded by a cream glazed circle. There is no restoration. Abrasion and some glaze flakes on the rim, which is normal considering the age and the nature of the glaze. Diameter: 12.5 cm Condition: Some glaze flakes on the rim,...

A rare composite eye bead made during the Warring States Period, circa 481 to 221 BC. The composite type of Warring States bead is made with a thin layer of glass overlaid on a clay or ceramic material core. This one is in especially good condition. From every aspect the frame of rich brown intersecting lines creates an almost mask-like structure for the blue and white, or yellow, raised eyes. This elaborate style of bead was only made during a narrow window of time in Henan province. Dimensi...

These Tang Dynasty (618-907CE) pottery figure groups were roughly moulded, but are full of vitality. This example has been cold painted with a white pigment over the grey low-fired pottery. Length: 14.6 cm; width: 7.9cm. Price: $400 USD; $530 CAD (HST of 13% will be applied to all sales in Canada). Condition: Intact and good with no repairs; typical wear to the pigment.

A Tang Dynasty (618-907CE) moulded pottery figure of a boar, which, as with all these figures, captures the immediacy of the animal’s presence. Height: 6cm; length: 13cm. Condition: Intact and good with no repairs. Price: $400 USD; $530 CAD (HST of 13% will be applied on all sales in Canada).

A rare composite eye bead made during the Warring States Period, circa 481 to 221 BC. The composite type of Warring States bead is made with a thin layer of glass overlaid on a clay or ceramic material core. There are five small white glass eyes around each of the larger eyes which are made of stratified layers of blue on top of white glass. This elaborate style of bead was only made during a narrow window of time in Henan province and apparently never made again. Dimensions: width, 21mm; hei...

The ram is depicted at rest with its legs folded under its body. These animal figurines played an important part in Chinese burial practices. Very similar ram figurines, frequently with an early celadon yueyao glaze, are quite common in the Jin dynasties, a century or so later (there are nice examples in the New York Metropolitan Museum and the Shanghai Museum). This one appears to have been cold painted with a white slip, traces of which still remain. Length: 13.2 cm; width: 6.4 cm. Condi...

The Northern and Southern Dynasties (420 AD- 589 AD) are often considered the most chaotic period of time in Chinese history. However, the cultural diversification of Chinese and Non-Chinese (mainly Nomadic minorities from the north and the west) inspired the arts and cultural creations which influenced the whole of China (Zhongyuan), including the funeral industry. This tomb figure is of a typical foreigner servant or groom, standing with a distinguishing hat that only the non-Han people (Hu...

A good example of the kinds of porcelaneous ware that were produced in large quantities at the ChangSha kilns at Tongguan in the eighth century. These have increased in value over the years and this is a very affordable piece. It is quite robustly potted and intended for the scholar’s table. The dark olive glaze is embellished with ten brown stripes. Diameter: 5.5 cm. Condition: good and intact; the glaze, though rough, retains much of its brightness. Price: $600 USD; $795 CAD (HST of ...

A rare and unusual “Ordos” bronze pin from one of the nomadic cultures located on China’s north-western borders in the first millennium BCE. It represents a ferocious animal, possibly a wolf, standing on two orbs. The decorations on its flanks and neck indicate the animal’s hair. It may have been intended as a decorative ornament, or it may have been a tool used for leather-work. Length: 8.7 cm. Condition: Excellent, with a deep patina, and a small patch of verdigris. Purchased in...

Very little seems to have been written in English about these brown-glazed boxes with moulded lids. I bought this from a Japanese collector who believed it to be Vietnamese, since siimilar boxes were produced in Vietnam during the fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. But the clay is quite different and more gritty than the smooth grey paste used in Vietnamese ceramics. Apparently these Fujian boxes were exported to Southeast Asia and competed there with the Vietnamese variants. They are unusual and un...

These ear cups - erbei - originally coated with a green lead glaze, have developed a very attractive iridescence over many years of burial. This form, used for drinking wine, was made in a variety of different materials in the eastern Han Dynasty (25-220CE), bronze, jade, glass, lacquer, and, of course, ceramics. These two cups are moulded on the exterior with a wave pattern and a saw tooth band below the rim, imitating the decoration on a bronze model. Length: 11 and 11.5 cm. Condition: One ...

A stunning piece of Qingbai porcelain like this one is rare to find nowadays. The glaze has a rich bluish green colour which offers a jade like effect. With its impressed lotus motif on the exterior of the body, this bowl is dated to the Yuan dynasty when these floral patterns were common. The incised design is very assured and full of vitality. Diameter: 15.5 cm. Condition: Good. No chips, no repairs. There is a firing crack to the rim, and discolouration to the exposed clay at the base. ...

This is a small Ding porcelain saucer dish with an elegant, incised floral decoration covered inside and out with a cream glaze. As with almost all Dingyao bowls and plates, the rim has been kept clear of glaze because it was stacked on its rim in the kiln. The Dingyao glazes are generally thin, and must have been quite difficult to control; in this case, some dust seems to have intruded, which makes it slightly rough to the touch. Price: $2100 USD, $2800 CAD (13% HST is applied to all sales in ...