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Back in December, there was a rather out of place Chinese export lot in the Hong Kong Pavilion sale that caught my eye. Export ware is generally not my thing unless I can combine it’s display with my furniture collection. I have always had some fascination with garniture sets of 18th century porcelain. Such an interesting western concept that gets interpreted through Chinese eyes.
I have held off acquiring these mainly because they generally come down to us in poor condition. Generations of house maids have made it their mission to destroy these sets of porcelain vases that they were required to dust each week.
However, this particular set was in practically perfect condition except for some chips under two of the lids. I was strongly attracted to the overall monochrome design with leaf shaped famille rose inserts. They are not the most refined production, but the vivid decorative colors used for the flowers and insects adds considerably to their charm. The set looked to be early 18th century, very possibly Yongzheng.
I took the plunge and went after them at auction after weighing up all the potential pitfalls and complications of acquiring and shipping these vases across the world. And I was of course right about my fears! There were credit card complications, holiday shipping delays in Hong Kong, customs paperwork complications in the US, and equipment problems with FedEx. Did I forget to mention that shipping costs equaled about half of my winning bid amount?
Finally, they arrived this week and I excitedly started unpacking the crate. Only to find this.
One of the vases was damaged because careless wrapping allowed for porcelain to porcelain contact during shipping. It was entirely avoidable if more care had been taken with wrapping each item. Now the fun continues with insurance claims, negotiating settlements, and restoration costs. Such a shame they survived 285 years relatively undamaged until their trip to Texas.
I am amazed that they did such a terrible job packing. Was this through Christies?
How terrible, dear William. It can really make one angry about these careless sellers (or packers). I hope you have a good restorer at hand and will get a partial refund. I didn’t know it was possible to buy porcelain from Hongkong, isn’t it restricted as in buying from China?
Birgit
Hi William -
Very sorry to hear about this unfortunate, and entirely avoidable, damage to one of the vases …
I do hope you, eventually, receive a satisfactory outcome with the all the claims and restoration costs …
Stuart
Such a shame! I am sorry to see that has happened.
Ugh! So sorry to hear of it. Good luck with the insurance. I am on edge whenever I order breakable (or very valuable things) from overseas and try to avoid it as much as possible.
It's one thing to have things arrive broken, it's quite another to find that the item was packed poorly.
Thanks everyone.
I should have mentioned that this was a Christie’s sale. I have had good luck in the past with them at their New York branch. I don’t know if they handled the packing in house or sent it out for third party packaging or crating. The wooden crate was very well constructed & didn’t show any exterior damage at all.
I guess the Chinese mainland government makes an exception to it’s antiquities foreign sales restrictions with the Hong Kong trade. I wonder if the mainland auction houses restrict foreign participation in their sales?
@william It's astonishing.... this is literally all they do - sell and ship valuable things. How in the hell do they not do that on a professional level, ever? I mean, it's one thing if the crate gets hit with a torpedo - things can happen- but it's just ineptitude if the damage is due to faulty packing. As far as I'm concerned, this is enough reason to never buy from their Hong Kong operation. How disappointing. I hope you let us know how they treat you and handle the issue moving forward.
@william I am so sorry that you will have to deal with the frustration, but at the end of the day, you will have a beautiful garniture set and I hope you will enjoy and love them many years. Sharon
Maybe the packer broke it and was hoping to pass it off as an in transit issue.
I was wondering about the Hong Kong sales recently and how that works now. I had a look for information but couldn't find anything specific to that issue.
😞
I can sympathize, I bought a 150 year old parlour lamp matching base and shade, by the time it arrived the shade had broke, lamp lost two thirds of its value in an instant as a non matched lamp.
now the question for the smart folks, would the value of a set of four be more than valuable than a set of five with one damaged knowing that even a set of four is rare enoupgh?
@ronm It has to be a set of five, displayed on the mantelpiece in the order shown on the picture. Even with one vase repaired it’s more valuable than four perfect pieces.
Birgit
Further up date. Christie’s contacted me today with an offer to refund the cost of shipping the Garniture set. This offer is equivalent to one fifth the total cost of the set so they are basically refunding a bit more than the total amount I have expended for one vase. I now have a name of a expert porcelain restoration person, so I have to get a quote (including further shipping costs) for comparison with the refund number.
Hmm. The offer seems stingy to me. What do you think?
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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.
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