How To Identify Fake Chinese Porcelain | Reference Book Authentication

At Last a Manual-Reference Book on How To Identify Fake Chinese Porcelain

The best book in or out of print for learning how to identify fake Chinese porcelain.

Title: "The Detection of Chinese Fakes"

Author: Anthony J. Allen, Pub. 2016 (updated with a section on Flambe examples)

• 350 Pages and 1,170 color illustrations
• Extensive text for each image
• Fully indexed
• Detailed explanation of reign marks
• Studying foot rims
• Indicators of age
• etc. etc..
• Price $115.00 (100% worth it)

A personal note on this book. My own library contains over 1,200 volumes on Asian art (I've lost count). If you can only afford a handful of books on Chinese porcelain, this should absolutely be one of them.

Its Worth Every Penny. 

An Important Book for Collectors, Dealers, and Generalist Antique Dealers

Why You Probably Need This Book

About Today's Chinese Porcelain Market: Over 95% of the Chinese porcelain for sale today is either a copy or being misrepresented.  When it comes to fine "Mark and Period" examples that percentage jumps to over 99.8% by my estimation.  Understanding how to identify fake Chinese porcelain, is to first understand what real examples look like.

By examining  the content of websites like Live Auctioneers, Invaluable or eBay tells the tale. These are all packed to capacity with reproductions of all types, especially the elusive "M & P" examples. Thirty years ago dealers might find a few "Mark and Period" pieces in a year outside of major auction houses. Today you can find dozens in five minutes all claiming to be authentic on the web.  Here is an auction house known to often sell fakes and copies.

Has there been a sudden discovery of never before known authentic pieces? No of course not, demand has provided a marketplace for fakes on an epic scale.

This amazingly handy book will go a very long way to saving collectors and dealers headaches and financial losses if used wisely. (It's about the size of a standard phone book)

• The Great Myth regarding fakes made during previous centuries: About the "old wive's tale" claiming copies were made in the past to venerate previous eras is untrue.  So let's all end the myth going forward. They were made for the same reasons they are made today, to make a lot more money than they would otherwise.  Who started this silly fable is anyone's guess, but is clearly without any documented evidence and needs to be ended. Fraud in the art world has been going on since the first piece was sold.

How This Book is VERY Different From Other Chinese Porcelain References

About the Author: Anthony Allen has been an active, knowledgeable and highly regarded dealer for decades. For numerous dealers, museums, and collectors Tony has been the "go to" guy and last word when it comes to authentication. He has also written four other best sellers on the topic of Chinese antiques, I own all of them. (Some are pretty dog-eared.)

Learning To LOOK and THINK Like a Smart Dealer

Detecting Chinese Fakes, a manual for studying Chinese porcelain.

Most books on Chinese porcelain devote pages to research on the historic origins ceramics and how the glazes were applied. The pages provide important but obscure aspects of assorted traditions and origins. It's all facinating and interesting to know, collectors do love history. However, most often they do very little to actually TEACH anything about "hands-on" authentication. The description of images are often brief, some marks, or practical clear information required for dating purposes. Worse yet, many describe important aspects and then fail to provide an illustration. (Illustrations are very expensive to include)

Why "The Detection of Chinese Fakes" Is Entirely Different

This book presents the nitty-gritty of examining pieces like a great dealer would with a student of a favored collector. The book is laid out section by section, describing what to look for with over one thousand accompanying illustrations. Unlike many if not most Chinese reference books, Tony also shows and discusses the all important foot rims. Just knowing foot rims will save you a fortune in the field when out buying.

The photos present objects collectors and dealers are likely to encounter for purchase. A large number of the pictures are from well-known honest and experienced sellers on eBay*.  Accompanying every photo are copious notes and text with crucial references of comparison to other illustrated examples.

Glazes, From start to finish Tony explains the application and coloring of glazes. His illustrations also show how they change from period to period. The texts provide considerable detail about the differences in glaze types, i.e. Wucai, Famille Verte, Doucai and San Cai. He then explains when needed what glazes you should and should not see on given types of pieces.

Shapes and Style, Are described throughout. When and how they evolved, when they didn't exist, what they should feel like and how much they should WEIGH. All the little things that divide the fake from the authentic.

Learning How to Identify Fake Chinese porcelain and Authentic Pieces

If you're serious about learning more about Chinese porcelain.  Save your self  a lot of time and expense through "mistakes" by owning this book. It will pay for itself time and again, it's worth every penny.

*Quite a few are of examples illustrated were sold by us on the site and/numerous examples (100's) have been in our Weekly Newsletter.