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.
So, the week before lock-down I was in London trawling Portobello Market and Kensington Church Street and stumbled across this in an Arabic/Asian gallery. The dealer had been told, and believed, it to be 18th century?! After a rather long, and somewhat protracted, negotiation I managed to acquire for nearly 40% of the asking price - perhaps an indication of how difficult and challenging market conditions were just before everything closed down ..?!
H. 32cm, MD 19cm, BD 21cm. Main body composition with four phoenixes, or two pairs, male and female with different tails amongst lotus scrolls. These are probably the Luan and the Feng, rather then the more commonly seen Feng and Huang types usually depicted ...
It has some condition issues. Long body crack, glaze pulls/losses to the mouth rim/base line, blue tone slightly pale and areas of ‘smokiness’ to glaze surface. This ‘smokiness’ is possibly due to a faulty glaze recipe, which may have been to thick, and probably also caused the interior running/pooling and edge losses to the mouth rim - 5th image. Such features are not common but are seen occasionally on such wares ...
This guan is early 16th C, ether late Zhengde or very early Jiajing periods - so 1515/mid 1520’s. The Gugong, Beijing has a guan/cover dated to Zhengde with similar, but not identical decoration - last image ...
Apart from the Gugong example, this guan appears to be extremely rare as no other example with this overall decoration seems to have been published or is known to be held within any public institutes/museum or private collection ...
It’s now in the hands of my restorer - so probably to be unseen again for several months ...!!
Stuart
That is lovely, Stuart! I shall look forward to seeing it after restoration is complete.
I have no idea what you were talking about re Luan and Feng, so I am off to do some research. Hope it will be ok to ask questions if I don't find what I am looking for? 😊
A stunningly beautiful example of an exceptionally rare guan. 👌
Mark
Nice! Congratulations!
What a find! It’s obviously a good time for makings bargains now.
Birgit
Hi Julia -
The Feng type is a male phoenix, with a tail depicted as seen in the first/third images posted and the Huang type is the more common female type, usually drawn with a curly tail. These two types have been seen on ceramics since the Yuan dynasty ...
The Luan type in the second/forth images, first drawn this way in the Xuande period, is also thought to be a female? However I understand that old Chinese texts state this is an entirely different ‘bird’ then the Feng and Huang phoenixes - so this ‘bird’ could be either male or female ...
Apologies, but I can’t seem to attach any images to this thread showing the differing types - don’t know if anyone else is having similar issues - so hope this explanation helps - somewhat ..?!🙄🤔
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
Thank you. I did read about the Feng/Huang and then got confused over the information I read on the Luan type. Interesting. More images would certainly be helpful and good to see but I think there was a problem earlier as I couldn't even access the site.
Julia
Hi Julia -
I emailed Peter earlier regarding my problems with attaching additional images to any posts, and the ongoing issue with 'button' access, and he kindly re-set my account🙂 ...
Unfortunately this reset has not cured the issues, so Peter has said he'll contact the site provider for help!!😒...
I've collated some wonderful images showing the differing types so will post these on a separate post in the next few days, if above 'issues' continue ...
Stuart
Thanks, Stuart. I will look forward to that! 🤗
Hi Stuart,
An amazing jar. I would find it hard to wait to bring it home! Thanks for sharing.
Re: the technical glitches here: I'm sure you've tried a different browser and/or emptied the history/cache? When I come across glitches like the ones you describe that usually does the trick.
Good luck!
Steve
Hi Steve -
As before, my pleasure to share ...
Re: technical issues - very much appreciated your advice on this but, unfortunately, have tried both and still ongoing?!🤨
I understand from some other Forum members that they are encountering same, or similar, issues!!🙄...
Stuart
Hi Stuart,
im new to this forum but have been collecting and studying for a while now. Please correct me if I’m wrong but this type of base was not used during the Ming period. The flat, slightly concave base occurred later during the 17-18th C. By this time this style of decoration hadn’t been done for a couple of hundred years and different styles were being used by the new generations of artists. Also, a guan jar of this type would have a very high price tag.
If I saw this piece for sale I would conclude it was from the second half of the 20th C, but this is only my personal opinion and I mean no offence by it.
best regards,
Hugh.
Hi Hugh - and welcome to this great forum ...
Absolutely no offence taken but I'am afraid your mistaken, the type of base seen/found on this type of guan is a typical for this period, late 15th/early 16th C ...
During the Ming dynasty, the bases on such large pieces were trimmed/finished differently during different periods, 14th - 17th centuries, also bases of such wares ordered/produced at the Imperial kilns differed from those made at the minyao kilns, such as this guan, where the differing grades of materials ie: clay, glaze, cobalt and production/craftsmanship ie: forming, painting, trimming, finishing and even firing very much depended on the level of patronage ...
I can only add that whilst very rare, the painting style and some of the decorative motifs are found/can be seen on other early 16th wares of differing forms and, when held/examined closely one can feel the imperfections of the body and see the slight differences within the motifs and overall drawing ...
You are quite right, an early 16thC guan with such rare decoration would be very expensive but, as mentioned above, the dealer had been told, and believed, that it was 18thC so negotiations commenced priced as such - rather fortunately for me ...
Stuart
It would be interesting to get Giovanni's or Peter 's view on this jar. What would concern me is that a dealer in the heart of the London antique world could have inquired and been told this was C18th when it clearly is not C18th style. Surely it's easy enough to check online.
I would also wonder slightly about the very prominent iron oxide line around the outside of the base rim, and the messy glaze on the interior rim. Are these really features of large (and potentially rare ) Ming pieces? I don't know enough about Ming porcelain to tell
tam
@ming1449
Thanks for the welcome Stuart, and thanks for the reply.
Im off to do more research on the subject of bases. Do you have any information yourself relating to these type of bases being used during this period? If I find anything useful myself I’ll let you know.
best regards,
Hugh
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.
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.