Catalog: Antiques: Regional Art: Asian: Chinese (65)

It was not until the Qing dynasty that the Jingdezhen potters finally mastered the production of this very difficult bright black enamel glaze. Unfortunately, these vases were frequently fired a third time overpainted with intricate gold enamel patterns, but the plain monochromes are much more achieved. The very elegant form of this vase with its long neck and compressed body derived ultimately from Han bronze models, and became especially popular in Qianlong times...

Ear cups were originally used only in ceremonies (Li Qi) back in the Zhou Dynasty. Later, the form became popular in Han dynasty and on into the Jin and Northern and Southern Dynasties, and it was used for wine drinking in daily life. The pair of lead glazed earcups that we also have listed were produced for burial purposes, but this example would have been used by the living. The oval body has an ear-shaped handle on both sides...

Peach-bloom glaze or apple-red (Jiangdouhong) Liuye ping was an original and major innovation of Jingdezhen ware in the Kangxi Period (1661-1722). The deep red glaze is beautifully applied all over the body, giving way to the white base layer of glaze only at the mouthrim. This small but exquisite vase shows the perfection of Liuye ping: A fine and slender boy sits on a narrow recessed base (white)...

Rank badges (Buzi, Mandarin Square) were textile panels that normally decorated the official outfits of nobles and civil and militarily officials during the Ming and Qing dynasties. This particular example has 5 bats (wu fu) symbolizing  5 blessings (a commonly used homophone in traditional Chinese culture): health, wealth, longevity, love of virtue and a peaceful death...

This cylindrical granary stands on three feet decorated with a moulded bear motif, which are often found on such containers. In the Han Dynasty, people interred these granaries in graves to provide grain for the deceased. This one is made with fine grey pottery and decorated with three sets of horizontal incised bands. Dimension: H: 24.5cm Dia: 12.5cm Condition: very good, with an aged patina and traces of ancient root growth...

A small hu-form jar with green and amber lead glaze. It dates to the Han dynasty, probably the Western Han (206BCE-9CE). These small jars are actually much less common than the larger ones, and it is rare to find them with two colours. Height: 12.4 cm; diameter: 9.4 cm. Condition: good and intact; normal wear and with the usual small chips to the glaze. Ex Anthony J. Allen. Price: USD $550; CAD $715 (13% HST will be applied on all sales in Canada)

This is a very nice example of a small Tang Dynasty (618-907CE) sancai pot for the scholar’s table at an affordable price. The glaze is finely crackled and has a slight iridescence. Diameter: 5cm. Condition: Intact and good with no repairs; normal wear for its age.

This is a good example of an utilitarian Tang Dynasty (618-907CE) jar that would have been used for storage. It is roughly but skillfully potted and the green glaze has gathered into a light blue drop that in other kilns might have been deliberately exploited so as to produce the sought-after suffused grey effect. Diameter: 5cm. Condition: Intact and good with no repairs; normal wear to the rim.

A polychrome Liao Sancai saucer dish incised with good luck cloud patterns. The dish is glazed in green, yellow and cream colours. Condition: Very good, no repair, no crack, minor glaze fritting on the side close to the rim.  Diameter: 12.00cm  Ex: I.M. Chait

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...

This is quite rare. The moulded design in the cavetto shows a pattern of young boys amid vines that was popular in Song dynasty times but uncommon in these Qingbai moulded dishes that were produced at Jingdezhen in the Southern Song period (1127-1279). This bowl was probably intended to be used as a brushwasher...

This bowl is typical of the highly original porcelaneous vessels that were produced in the eighth century by the kilns at Changsha. Many were exported in large quantities to Southeast and West Asia, and some were recovered from the Belitung shipwreck, which this one probably comes from...

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...

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...

This attractive barrel-shaped jar has a crackled cream glaze with a second bright green enamelled overglaze. A bright apple green enamel had been used previously but never as an overall monochrome glaze on top of a crackled one until the Kangxi period (1661-1722). This jar has a Kangxi four-character mark but dates, like almost all four-character “Kangxi” pieces, from the late nineteenth century...

This is an excellent example of one of the most sought-after kinds of porcelain snuff-bottles. It has a good jadeite stopper and dates from the Daoguang reign (1821-1850). On one side there is a typical close-up of a cricket and on the other a slightly more unusual depiction of a cricket climbing over its open cage. It has fanciful mask handles on each shoulder. Height: 6.3 cm; Width: 5.4 cm. Condition: Very good, with a small abraded patch to the glaze on the rim.

The compressed globular body is raised on three thick, tapered legs and divided into three lobes loosely carved with a floral scroll, rising to an everted rim set with two rope-twist handles. It is covered overall with a glaze of sea-green tone, in places suffused with minute bubbles...

This bowl exhibits all of the exuberance of taste that was characteristic of the Yuan dynasty. The Junyao potters who made this bowl have mastered the techniques of applying thick layers of glaze and allowing them to run with a daring freedom. Its a gorgeous thing to look at and to hold. Diameter: 19.2 cm Condition: Excellent with only minor wear. Ex IM Chait Auction Price: $2100 USD; $2700 CAD (HST of 13% will be applied on all sales in Canada).