So, after a long time, I have come back!!
I have just finished my first semester in
anthropology, wrote a ethnography and some papers… I must say it is very inspiring and important to my career.
In our blog, we constantly talk about how
to identify fakes, don’t trust the description, we need to perform research before
buying anything, these are the rules of being an antique buyer (or connoisseur). However, for most of the buyers, either rich
or lazy, they think that the stuffs from a famous auction house such as Christies,
Sothebys or Bonhams, are good enough and trust worthy. I hope to let you all to know that, even a
well-known auction house, the stuffs can also be questionable. In this week, we will out-perform the
specialist in a world class auction house, with our skills.
This time, we will talk about a blue and
white dish from previous Christie’s auction.
Preview Entry 7 - Christie's (Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Parts I&II) 23 March 2012
An unusual Blue and White Shallow Dish
Lot 2047
6 Characters (大清雍正年製) mark
Estimated: $5,000 - $7,000
Realized Price: $7,500
Realized Price: $7,500
Like its title, it is really unusual to me, if viewed as an imperial piece from Yongzheng reign, reasons below:
Brownish mouth rim coating
It is one of the key styles of export wares
or private kiln production. We call it
as 醬油邊(Soy sauce Rim), the rim is covered with brownish color coating. If you find one export plate from Yonghzheng
and Qianlong reign, you may find this kind of rim, since this kind of rim is very
common for the export wares during the mentioned reigns, and the plates with these
rims are very sharp.
Checker rim decoration
As we can see near the rim, there is some Checker pattern decoration.
It is a common style for export wares or private kiln products. Besides, it is also a common style for Japanese porcelain wares. However, this pattern should not be decorated on Imperial Yongzheng pieces, I have never come across with a Yongzheng imperial piece with this decoration.
Poor written mark
It was written as “Dai Qing Yongzheng Nian Zhi” (大清雍正年製) (Made during the reign of Yongzheng). However to me, there are two problems:
It was written as “Dai Qing Yongzheng Nian Zhi” (大清雍正年製) (Made during the reign of Yongzheng). However to me, there are two problems:
1.
Poor coloring
For the color, it is in dark blue, it is
the result of poor firing, either in too high temperature, or firing too long. It is a quality problem that should not be accepted
in imperial production.
2.
Style for the mark
As we can see in here, it is a poor imitation of Yongzheng reign mark. Few strokes are
tilting upward (marked Red), which is a features for later period, it should
not be happened in Yongzheng pieces. The character "Nian" 年 is barely acceptable to me though. Again
it is a quality problem, during Yongzheng reign, there were already workmen assigned
solely for mark writing, so the marks should be in consistent style.
Conclusion
To me, the best scenario for this piece is, it is a private
kiln production near Guangxu (late qing)/ republic of China or later period. I would not say it is a fake piece since it
is a common practice in the time of Republic of China with an older reign mark,
and actually it is a great piece for that period. I do not suggest it is an export ware from Yongzheng period since it is contradictory to for an export ware from Yongzheng reign to bear a reign mark. Also, the quality of the landscape painting is beyond the quality of an export ware. If I work in Christie’s, I would suggest it is from 19th century, instead of 18th
Century. Also, the buyer would be
disappointed if he/ she wish to buy an imperial piece.
Extra stuff!
Well! In last week, our facebook page got one new like,
it is from Marilyn Loraine! This time we fell off from
chair since we are really lazy these weeks and still have one like.
