The Chinese and Asian Art Forum. For Fans, Collectors and Dealers.
Basic Rules For the BidAmount Asian Art Forum: Talk about whatever you want. You can even discuss and offer things that are for sale if they are authentic. Maximum image file size per post is 2 MB. Images of 700pxl x 700pxl are optimal if saved at a medium resolution. Be respectful of others and enjoy yourself. Click the YouTube link for a brief tutorial on using the forum. You can also EMBED Videos by cutting and pasting from You-Tube, Vimeo etc.
NOTE: To post an item or add a new post, click open the category title from the FORUM LIST, and CLICK the Blue ADD TOPIC button.
I have just pick up this transmutation/flambe glazed ‘water-chestnut’ shaped bottle vase from my restorers, H 35.2 cm, probably L18th century.
The foot rim is slightly ground and base unglazed. Upon the base are four ink characters, standing for the four cardinals, South/West/East - the North character is illegible.
Although pieses with base ink inscriptions are know, I understand that it is very unusual to see the cardinals written. These possible indicates this vase may have been an alter vessel, the cardinals representing the correct directional placement within the setup with reference to the object or decoration contained by the vase?!
I wonder if anyone else has seen another piece with similar base ink cardinals?!
Attached images include two images before restoration, rather interesting thick cloth strips glued to inside neck!!
Stuart.
Stuart, that is a very nice vase. I like that the inscriptions on the base have a compass relationship. I also notice four double character markings, could they be the traditional markings of the four celestial animals that form the traditional Chinese directions. These applied before the now standard cardinal directions?
Indeed, very beautiful. I don't recall having seen anything described as "water chestnut" shape, before I also find the foot markings very interesting and have not come across that, either.
All very intriguing, thanks for sharing! ?
I saw a copper red bowl on Ebay recently with black painted marks on the base .
Carl
Hi Ronm -
Thank you very much for your thoughts! I will have to do some more research into these other characters, but your theory regarding some connection to the four celestial animals is entirely possible. Someone has suggested the characters probably have a ritual significance so that the vase would be placed in the correct direction, possible within a Daoist's alter setting?! But this also requires further investigation ...
Hi Julia -
Thank you, my pleasure to share! These 'water-chestnut' shape vases were first introduced in the Kangxi period, and there are several different shape types know. The shape and proportions underwent various changes during the Yongzheng/Qinglong periods.
Stuart
Hi Carl -
Thank you very much for this information, most interesting - can you remember what these may have read, or if a link to this bowl is still available?!
Stuart
I found the piece i saw on Ebay , I am not sure it will be any help as i remembered it differently .
Carl
Again not similar but Jan Erik has a piece with ''Rare handwriting '' 18th century at the top of this page.
Carl
Hi Stuart,
Beautiful vase. Looks like the restorer did a very nice job. The characters on the base are fascinating. I love unusual things like that, especially involving script/characters. I’m not familiar with “water chestnut” as a shape either, same as Julia. I would have said it was a bottle vase. But I suppose that is vague and dull, as opposed to your interesting description. ?
Todd
take it with a grain of salt
Dear Carl,
I think that you understood that Stuart was referring only to the presence of the inscriptions, while he indeed was referring to the fact that the inscription was related to the four cardinal points.
It is plenty of examples with black ink inscription on the bare paste, but I too have never seen it representing the four cardinal points.
Dear Stuart, your nice vase should be 19th century. The main reason for thinking this is the fact that the foot has been filed due to the excessive pooling of the glaze, a common feature seen on 19th century vases with this type of glaze.
I found it strange the whiteness of the base. Commonly these unglazed bases are burnt brown.
Nice piece!
Best regards
Giovanni
Hi Carl -
Thank you very much for taking the trouble to find and post these links.
I apologise for any misunderstanding caused in my original post regarding the question of the inked characters! I was indeed, as Giovanni has pointed out, not referring to ink inscriptions in general, but pacifically to the four cardinals and inquiring if any one else had ever seen these on another piece.
Hi Todd,
Thank you very much. Yes, I'am delighted with the restoration, very high quality!!
Just to clarify, this is indeed a bottle type vase, but classed as a 'water-chestnut' shape.
I to like the more 'unusual' pieces, the inclusion of the inked four cardinals to the base made this vase more so - for me!
Dear Giovanni -
Thank you very much for your thoughts/opinions.
Yes, the ground foot is commonly seen on 19th century vases, I have no issues with such a dating attribution.
The overall shape has some elegance, complemented by the beautiful variations of blues/purples and slight reds within the transmutation glaze. However, as you mention, the unglazed base is rather unusual, made much more so by the four inked cardinals - something I also have never encountered before - the inclusion of which makes this vase somewhat interesting!
With warmest regards to all for sharing your thoughts ....
Stuart
The larger characters starting from 6 o’clock clockwise are east, south, west, north. The others ones are hard to discern. If you upload larger pictures of each quarter I can try again.
Hi John
Thank you very much in advance for taking the time to look at these inked characters - larger images of each quarter attached, hope these are of some help ... Apologies for the image quality, taken on my iPhone.
Stuart
Sorry, still not able to recognize them. You may want to find any local Chinese friend to help you with that.
Would cleaning the base with soapy water help? Make sure it wont damage the writing if you try.
Carl
Latest Post: Help identifying this plate. Our newest member: Claude Bailey Recent Posts Unread Posts
Thanks for visiting "The BidAmount Asian Art Forum | Chinese Art"
If you sell on eBay, or have a shop feel free to post images and descriptions and links.
Check back often for discussion about the latest news in the Chinese art and antique world. Also find out about the latest Asian art auctions at Sotheby's, Christie's, Bonhams and Tajans.
Auction results for: fine porcelain, ceramics, bronze, jade, textiles and scholar's objects. As well as Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese and other Asian cultures.
Thank you,
Peter Combs
Topics and categories on The BidAmount Asian Art Forum | Chinese Art
Kangxi vases, Kangxi dishes and chargers, Kangxi ritual pieces, Kangxi scholar's objects, Qianlong famille rose, Qianlong enamels, Qianlong period paintings, Qianlong Emporer's court, Fine porcelain of the Yongzheng period. Chinese imperial art, Ming porcelain including Jiajing, Wanli, Xuande, Chenghua as well as Ming jades and bronzes.
Join the BidAmount Chinese and Asian art discussion board and forum today
The BidAmount Asian Art Forum | Chinese Art
A free Asian art discussion board and Asian art message board for dealers and collectors of art and antiques from China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and the rest of Asia. Linked to all of the BidAmount Asian art reference areas, with videos from plcombs Asian Art and Bidamount on YouTube. Sign up also for the weekly BidAmount newsletter and catalogs of active eBay listing of Chinese porcelain, bronze, jades, robes, and paintings.
The art of calligraphy - and for the ancient Chinese it certainly was an art - aimed to demonstrate superior control and skill using brush and ink. Calligraphy established itself as one of the major Chinese art forms during the Han dynasty (206 BCE - 220 CE), and for two millennia after, all educated men were expected to be proficient at it.
The Museum’s collections of Asian art span nearly five millennia and encompass the cultures of China, the Himalayas, India, Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. In 2007, the Museum launched an initiative to create dedicated galleries for the collection, beginning with a gallery for the arts of Korea ...
Chinese art is full of symbolism, in that artists typically seek to depict some aspect of a totality of which they are intuitively aware.
China Online Museum is the finest online museum of Chinese art. It features Chinese calligraphy, painting, ceramics, bronzes, carving, and other artworks.
Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art. Overview Upcoming auctions Contacts Auction results ... Christie’s sales of Chinese ceramics and works of art showcase centuries of Chinese history. Held throughout the year in London, New York, Paris and Hong Kong, they attract a wide audience of collectors and connoisseurs vying for pieces as diverse as ...
Explore Asian Art Week. Contact the Specialist Department. Chinese Paintings ... Senior Specialist, Head of Sale. [email protected]. Tel:+1 212 641 5760. Bid in-person or online for the upcoming auction:Fine Chinese Paintings on 10 September 2019 at New York. Bid in-person or online for the upcoming auction:Fine Chinese Paintings on 10 ...
Discover an abundance of must-see art from all corners of a vast continent at Christie’s NY Asian Art Week. From contemporary classical and Chinese paintings to works with exemplary provenance from the Art Institute of Chicago, our Rockefeller Paza galleries will be full of ancient treasures and contemporary masterworks in a salute to the vibrant arts of Asia.
Sold to benefit The Art Institute of Chicago’s Asian Art Acquisition Fund, the sale features 84 lots with a focus on Ming and Qing porcelains, and offers a rare insight into the taste for collecting Chinese ceramics and works of art in the Midwest from the end of the 19th century through the 1980s. Highlights include two Wanli wucai garlic-head vases, a Qianlong mark and period, blue and ...
Specialist, Chinese Paintings, Christie's London Dr Malcolm McNeill is a Specialist in Chinese Paintings at Christie’s, based in London. He previously worked as an assistant curator of the Chinese collections and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as a researcher at the British Museum, and as a translator and tour guide at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
The Christie's Education 2020 Conference: The Chinese Art Market 18 Jun 2019 Christie’s Education is delighted to announce our first international academic conference in Asia which will take place in Hong Kong from 26-27 November 2020 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and will run in parallel with Christie’s Hong Kong Autumn Auctions.
The summer Chinese Art sale in Hong Kong will feature works of art from several private collections, including Qing porcelains and textile from the collection of the legendary Chinese art dealer A. W. Bahr (1877–1959), fine gilt bronze Buddhist sculptures from an old Hong Kong collection, an East Asian collection of Qing dynasty wine cups and jades, and a Japanese collection of Song ceramics ...
Sotheby's Chinese Works of Art Department holds two auctions each year in London, New York, Hong Kong and Paris.
Chinese Art - View Auction details, bid, buy and collect the various artworks at Sothebys Art Auction House.
With more than 340 Chinese works of art dating from the Neolithic to the Republic periods, highlights of this sale include a selection of Qing Imperial monochromes from the collection of Arnold and Blema Steinberg, early ceramics from the Art Institute of Chicago and Chinese porcelain and works of art from the collection of Henry Arnhold.
Results: Sotheby's Asia Week achieved $52.4 million in six strong auctions, exceeding pre-sale estimates. With 76.5% of lots sold and 60.3% of lots surpassing high estimates, the Asian art sales at Sotheby's indicate continued collector interest in the finest works of art from China, India and and the Himalayas.
Today's sale of Important Chinese Art will proceed as planned with sessions at 10 AM and 2 PM EDT. Sotheby's will be monitoring the weather conditions throughout the day and will be available to coordinate alternative bidding options should conditions make it difficult for clients to attend the auction in person.
Bonhams Chinese Art department is renowned for offering the finest works of art representing the richness and breadth of China's artistic heritage, particularly Imperial porcelain, white and spinach green jades, cloisonné and Buddhist art. Specialised international auctions are held globally, including London, Hong Kong and San Francisco.
Bonhams : Chinese Works of Art We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site. By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies. Please refer to our privacy and cookie policies for more information.
Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars. We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site. By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies. ... Chinese Art (US) General enquiries
Bonhams : Fine Chinese Art We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site. By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies. Please refer to our privacy and cookie policies for more information.
Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars Bonhams : Asian Art We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site.
Bonhams are international auctioneers of fine Chinese and Japanese art. We specialise in rare Imperial and Export Chinese ceramics and works of art, as well as Japanese ceramics, fine and decorative works of art from the Neolithic Period to the 20th century. View on map
Bonhams Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers: auctioneers of art, pictures, collectables and motor cars. We use cookies to remember choices you make on functionality and personal features to enhance your experience to our site. By continuing to use our site you consent to the use of cookies. ... Asian Art Bonhams. Work. 22 Queen St.