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.
In 1972 there was in the news that a large blue YUAN vase with splashes of red that reached the highest price ever for a Chinese vase. It was in all the papers. I was a GS9 living in Tokyo. At the time I thought- I'm close to China- I could find something like that Chinese one an get rich! I started reading books on porcelain at Camp Zama Library.
A dealer invited me to a Japanese dealers auction in Kyoto. All the dealers were sitting in a circle on the floor and only the dealers could bid. I told my dealer friend I wanted something Chinese. He brought me this piece and said this one is very old with dragons. I paid 19 dollars worth of yen. The whole experience was very strange and wonderful Soon, I knew it was, of course, Japanese - and I still love it! My very first purchase 🙂
6.5cm high x 14.5cm wide. David I would love to hear your story!
1970 antique shop in Maryland. Brass candlestick, Republic period, it was unusual to find anything marked China at that time. It was small, inexpensive and had butterflies on the base. My husband was in the Navy, which meant we moved often and I had a series of jobs in retail that I would rather forget.
Back in 1983 when I was only 23 years old was when I was first purchased my asian item.
Back then I did have a jewelers boutique and a elderly gentleman came in with a delightful item.
He pleaded with me to purchased this item because nobody else (he tried a few places apparently) wanted to buy it.
After negotiating with him I agreed to buy it from him for $500.
It is a rather large hetian white off-white nephrite jade censer. Measuring 12.5" and weighs 1980 grams. Circa late Qing to early republic period. So 1890-1920. Its a impressive censer with stepped lid depicting two Foo cubs intertwined. It has dragon head handles.
Surprisingly I still have it today. I absolutely love it and this was my very first purchase of Asian art.
Unfortunately I am unable to post a image as I am having trouble cropping the image down to size. So the best I can do is provide two images. Its packed away for the moment.
Mark
These seals are sometimes found, here's a pair sold by Rob Michiels, though they can be opened at the bottom while mine is just a seal. I can't see the sold price but a few years ago Van Ham sold one like mine for about $350. Mine is 3 1/8" or 8,5 cm high and probably silver or an alloy.
Birgit
Thank you Sharon, Mark and Shinigami for your stories. And it seems like we have all kept that first item.
David
Sharon, Mark and Shinigami:
BTW, this is the $1 million Yuan Jar that started me looking for Chinese Porcelain.
David
After graduation from college, I saw an advertisement for a pop up sale in a local house for Chinese antique ceramics. I think they had shopped in Europe and had a container shipped back to Texas. I vaguely remember a lot of 19th & 20th century things in several rooms. All I had seen in books was 18th century & earlier wares so I chose something similar to the examples I had studied in reference works.
I bought a pair of these famile verte bottle vases since they looked to be 18th century examples. Right? None of these old reference works mentioned that Chinese potters happily continued producing 18th century reproductions into the 20th century. I was so disappointed to find out these were 19th century ceramics a year or so later. In my ignorance, I was actually rather lucky that they were actually 19th century as opposed to circa yesterday.
By the way, they are sitting on a pair of early 19th century American eagle brackets which are certainly much rarer than the Chinese bottle vases.
William,
Thanks for the great story. And your bottle vases looks great on those wonderful brackets!
David
I was in grad school, at least 30 years ago, and was driving back to New Mexico after visiting relatives in New Mexico. It was New Years eve, and I stopped for gas in Northern Texas, just after dark. I was eager to get home, to avoid the drunks. Bit to my surprise, there was a little antique store open across from the gas station. I wandered in, out of curiousity.
The owner was a youngish fellow, perhaps in his early 30's. He seemed sad, and we spoke for a while. I asked him why he as open so late on New Year's eve, and with great sadness, he told me. He said his little daughter and passed away just two weeks earlier, and he had no one to go home to. I stayed and talked for a while to keep him company, and wandered around the store. It didn't have a lot; apparently his last store had burned down only a few months earlier, and he was starting over.
I purchased a few odds and ends, more as a kindness than because I could afford them, or needed them. I purchased a very pretty, but damaged little Meiji cloisonne ginger jar; he told me that it had been in the fire, and had fallen off a shelf when the fire burned it through. It has no obvious fire damage, but other Oriental pieces where stained with smoke.
I still have the ginger jar, and it is one of my favorite pieces. I will never forget the dealer, though.
The store was closed the next year when I came by again.
Charles
Thanks Charles. A sad story in a away, but it brought enrichment in your life. I think we'll never forget the beginning of our journey.
David
Hello,
Such amazing stories - I appreciate learning about other people's experiences so thank you!
My first purchase of what I thought was a Chinese antique was about 3 years ago in a second hand shop on Clement St. in SF. Before then I didn't know enough to shop for it and didn't spend money on antiques. (As you can tell, I'm still a newbie!) After leaving a friend's house for lunch I saw this crowded second hand store and went inside to browse.
Tucked away on the back of a shelf was what I recognized as an export American eagle jar that I asked to look at. I knew I wasn't sure, but I took the chance and paid $90 & guessed it to be late Qing. The Nancy Reagan shades in the flowers are a givaway of the 80s, I shoudda known! 😆 Anyway, I could get half back on it I think; it would make a nice cookie jar.
-Steve
Hi Everyone,
You know, I need to add an addendum; the first Asian antique I bought was not the fake ginger jar but a small bat saucer about 6 month earlier from an Asian antique store near Union Square. I haven't had Peter appraise it but I'm pretty sure it's 19th c. and has the Xianfeng (?) mark. I love bats and antiques and was just getting started collecting; the price was a little steep for a saucer but it's in good condition so I splurged.
It's been up on my kitchen wall ever since.
Regards,
Steve
Latest Post: Ming Wanli dish OK? Our newest member: Mae Naylor 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.