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KANGXI 1662 - 1722. 康熙A Large Chinese Porcelain Dish, Kangxi Six Character Mark and of the Period. Well Painted with a Scene from the Moon Festival. The Scene Shows an Elegant Lady Lighting Incense While Her Attendant Fans Her, and a Crane Flies Over-head. The Scene is set in a Garden Landscape Complete with a Pair of Rabbits and a Banana Plant. The Border is Decorated with Pairs of Elegantly Dressed Ladies. For a Very Similar Dish in the Collection Bal, Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg, Holland, See : Chinese Export Porcelain, Chine de Commande ( D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Faber and Faber, 1974 ),Item 63. For Details of the Moon-Festival Click on the Image. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
17th CENTURY 明朝A Rare Late Ming or Early Qing Porcelain Night Light in the Form of Cat. Lightly Potted and Naturalistically Modelled With the Fur Painted in a Light blue of a Silvery Tone. A Few Cat Night Lights Were Recovered from the Hatcher Cargo of c.1643.For a Similar Example but with Cloud Scrolls Decorated over the Fur See Sotheby's New York, 31st of May 1994, Described as Kangxi, Lot 313. Later Examples Can be Found in Famille Verte and Famille Rose Colours. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
CHONGZHEN DATED 1640.A Rare Chongzhen (1628-1644) Porcelain Jar Dated 1640. Decorated with an Open Landscape Scroll, a Vase of Flowers and other Objects. Dated by Inscription to 1640. Provenance : Christie's London, Feb. 1979 Lot 52. A Private English Collection. R & G McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. Illustrated in : The Hatcher Porcelain Cargo's (Colin Sheaf and Richard Kilburn, Phaidon 1988). R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Pair of Kangxi Porcelain Ewers. The Islamic Metal Work Form has a Raised Ruyi-Head Panel to the Center. The Blue and White Design is of Flowers in Compartments. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.An Unusual Kangxi Porcelain Plate c.1700. Decorated in blue and white with a crucifixion scene. Christ on the cross is flanked by two figures representing the Virgin Mary and St.John. However the two rather similar figures look rather more like Chinese monks than figures from the Bible. The technique of cross-hatched lines betrays the designs European origin, this scene would have been taken from a European copper-plate engraving of the period. The border of tree shrews among fruiting vine is purely Chinese. It is painted in a more traditional Chinese manner without the extensive use of cross-hatching. For a similar Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain beaker and saucer, where the author states that these were made for a Portuguese religious brotherhood in either Macau or Goa see : Chinese Porcelain At The Time Of Empire (Nuno de Castro, ACD Editions, 2007. ISBN 978-9728855-39-0). Page 379 R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Large Kangxi Porcelain Jar and Cover. Well Painted in Strong Tones of Cobalt Blue Against a Clean White Body, Finished with a Bright Pearly Clear Glaze. This Kangxi Jar Dates to c.1690-1710. The Design Consists of Deer in an Extensive Landscape, with Dancing Boys on the Cover. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722A Massive Kangxi Porcelain Jardiničre, c.1685-1700. Decorated with Baskets of Flowers Against a Scrolling Flower background. For Fragments of a Kangxi Jardiničre of this Shape with the Distinctive Rounded Rim with Ridge Below, Recovered From the Queen's Garden Next to Queen Mary's Dairy Cellar at Her Palace at Het Loo Holland See : Queen Mary's 'Delft Porcelain', Ceramics at Het Loo From The Time Of William and Mary (A.M.L.E. Erkelens, Paleis Het Loo National Museum, Apeldoorn,1996). From The Catalogue By Erkelens : "Among the shards excavated in the vicinity of Mary's cellar dairy are three fragments that belong to a large bowl or basin. They are decorated in the exactly the same way as the bowls at Hampton Court that belonged to Queen Mary....It is debatable whether Mary used the bowls for the purpose for which they were intended in China. Among the exotic natural species mary possessed were fish as well as birds and plants. Constantijn Huygens mentions in his diary in April 1694, in England, that the queen showed him certain ; red and gilded fish that she had kept alive for five to six months in a stone container with water and that they had come from a far away place. However jardiničres or urns such as the present example were often used for keeping exotic citrus trees in. These were then placed in the new fashionable Orangeries and taken outside in the summer. When we purchased this bowl there were several goldfish living in it, they had been there for five years or so. These were happily relocated. Please note : No goldfish were harmed in the purchasing of this bowl. This is in keeping with our goldfish ethical welfare policy. The new owner of this piece will be using it as a home for goldfish. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620.明代 Ming Porcelain. A Wanli Mark and Period Porcelain Saucer Dish, Late Ming Dynasty. The Base with a Six Character Wanli Mark and of the Period (1573-1620) Decorated with a Scholar in a Landscape Seated Under a Pine Tree with Two Attendants, One of whom is Offering a Book. To the Left Can be Seen Tops of Buildings with Clouds Around them. The Scholar is Seated Next to a Prunus Tree, with a Small Amount of Bamboo in the Foreground, While a large Pine Tree Shades Him. These Three Plants, Pine, Bamboo and Prunus, are Referred to as 'The Three Friends of Winter'. The Base with a Six Character Wanli Mark and of the Period (1573-1620) to the Center, the Rim with Branches of Flowers and Fruit. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE MING, Tianqi or Chongzhen 1621-1643. 明代An Unusual Ming Porcelain 'Fukizumi' Ground Dish Made for the Japanese Market, Tianqi(1621-1627) or Chongzhen (1628-1643) Period. The 'Fukizumi' Powder Blue Ground with a Reserved Design of the 'Three Friends of Winter', Pine, Plum and Bamboo. The Reverse with a Six Character Chenghua (1465-1487) Mark. Made during the very end of the Ming Dynasty this dish was produced for the Japanese tea ceremony meal 'Kaiseki'. 'Fukizumi' (Powder blue) ground porcelain with the design left in the white using wax resist ('Sumihajiki') was an unusual technique at this time, however pieces are documented, for example see Christie's London 'The Peony Pavilion Collection ; Chinese Tea Ceramics For Japan (c.1580-1640) June 12th 1989, lots 233 and 235. Provenance : R&G McPherson Antiques (Sold 12-03-02). Private Collection. Compare to 17133 For a Ming Dish of this Pattern but of a Circular Form (enter 17133 in search on the home page). R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
MING DYNASTY c.1601 - 1644. 明代 Ming PorcelainA Very Rare Ming Porcelain Vase, Related to Two Ming Vases Inscribed Fu Fan Zhi Zhao (Made for Fu Fan). Jessica Harrison-Hall in Ming Ceramics in The British Museum States that Soame Jenyns Suggests the Inscribed Vase at the British Museum (and presumably the other published vase) Was Made for Either Zhu Changxun, the Third Son of Wanli, Who Took up Office as Prince Fu in 1601 and was Killed in 1640 or His Son, Who Became Price Fu in 1643 and Set Himself Up as Emperor in 1644 on the Fall of the Ming Dynasty. He is Associated with the Southern Ming Dynasty and was Assassinated a Few Months Later. For an illustration and description of this Ming vase, which has the same pattern and shape as the present vase, but with an inscription reading Fu Fan Zhi Zhao see : Ming Ceramics in The British Museum (Jessica Harrison-Hall,The British Museum Press,2001) Page 389 Item 12:88. Another blue and white Ming Porcelain vase of this type from the Robert West Bequest is now in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. This vase has an apocryphal mark of Xuande (1426 - 1435) Valenstein attributes their vase to the Southern Ming Dynasty of 1644 to 1645. See : A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, Suzanne G. Valenstein, Weidenfield and Nicolson, London, Revised Edition 1989) Pages 201 -202 Plate 195. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL, Chongzhen Period 1628-1644, Ming Ming Dynasty.A Fine Transition Blue and White Porcelain Brushpot. Decorated with a Scholar and Attendant in a Garden Landscape. The Border Incised with 'Anhua' Decoration. Provenance : The Tse Collection. The roots of this unsettled period starts during the later part of Wanli's reign (1573-1620). At the begging of his reign China was doing very well, new crops from the Americas such as peanuts, maize and sweet potatoes increased food production, while simplified taxes helped the state run smoothly. But this was not due to Wanli's enlightened reign, but to his Mother championing a man that was to become the Ming dynasties most able minister, Zhang Zhuzheng (1525—1583). Wanli became resentful of Zhuzheng's control but upon his death became withdrawn from court life. Between 1589 to 1615 he didn't appear at imperial audiences, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by squabbling ministers. Mongols from the North raided as Japan invaded Korea. Wanli re-opened the silver mines and imposed new taxes but the money was lost due to corruption, as well as being frittered away by the indulgent Emperor himself . The next emperor of Ming China, Tianqi (1621-1627), was bought up in this self indulgent disorganised environment, at the very young age 15 his short reign started. He didn't stand a chance. Tianqi made the mistake of entrusting eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627) who Anna Paludan in her excellent book "Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors" (Thames and Hudson, 1998) describes as "a gangster of the first order". Tianqi was deemed to have lost the Mandate of heaven by the Ming people. Tianqi's younger brother, the last of the Ming Emperors, Chongzhen (1628-1644), was not able to save the situation. The systems of administration had broken down, corruption was rife and so when a sever famine broke out in 1628 nothing much could be done. Anna Paludan describes the tragic end to the great Ming Dynasty "The final drama was worthy of a Greek tragedy. The emperor called a last council in which 'all were silent and many wept', the imperial troops fled or surrendered, and the emperor, after helping his two sons escape in disguise, got drunk and rushed through the palace ordering the women to kill themselves. The empress and Tianqi's widow committed suicide; the emperor hacked off the arm of one daughter before killing her sister and the concubines. At dawn he laid his dragon robe aside and dressed in purple and yellow, with one foot bare, climbed the hill behind the now silent palace and hanged himself on a locust tree". The Great Wall of China, started 2,000 years ago was built to protect China from the Northern barbarian hoards, it was often tested and sometimes failed. The Jin people invaded China, ruling the North between 1115 and 1234, it was their descendants the Manchus, Jurchens from south east Manchuria that took full advantage of the problems of the Ming dynasty. In 1636 they adopted a Chinese dynastic name, the 'Great Qing' (Qing meaning pure). The first of the Qing emperors was Shunzhi (1644-1661) but for most of his reign his uncle ran the state. War raged on during this period and it wasn't until the second Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) that true peace was achieved. Kangxi was a wise and educated man, he became a highly successful emperor bringing China a long period of wealth and stability. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722A Rare Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain 'Flower Pyramid' in the Delft Pottery Style of Adriaen Kocks (De Griexe A Factory). Large flower pyramids of this type were made in Holland for William and Mary at Hampton Court among other palaces. Compare to the flower pyramid at Hampton Court and illustrated in : 'Delffs Porcelijn' Van Koningin Mary II, Queen Mary's 'Delft Porcelain', Ceramics at Het Loo from the Time of William and Mary. Page 41 illustrated on page 40 ; dated to 1689-1695. Vases of this type were not referred to as tulip vases in 17th or 18th century inventories, that was a 19th century misunderstanding. Tulip mania had been and gone by the time vases of this shape were in production. Queen Mary's inventories call them 'flower pyramids'. Some may indeed have had tulips in them but they might just have well had hyacinths. They could be used for cut flowers while others might have had bulbs planted in them. The small size of the present example makes it clear it was intended for cut flowers. Few Chinese porcelain examples have survived. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI c.1710 - 1715.A Rare Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Plate in Imitation of English or Dutch Delftware. Decorated with European Figures in a Landscape with 'Sponged' Trees. For a very similar Kangxi Porcelain plate see : The Choice of the Private Trader, The Private Market in Chinese Export Porcelain illustrated from the Hodroff Collection ((David S. Howard, Zwemmer,1994). David Howard states ...."although the original could be Dutch delftware ; a scene with very similar trees and eccesiatical and other buildings but with four figures was sold at Phillips, London in 1980 as 'probably Lambeth c.1700-1710'. Such an original would have been taken to China for copying - probably for the Private Trade". R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI c.1692 - 1695. Qing Dynasty.A Chinese Export Porcelain 'Rotterdam Riot' Plate, Kangxi (1662-1722). The Base with a Chenghua Mark (Ming Dynasty 1465-1487). There is an Extensive Dutch Inscription on an Old Piece of Paper Relating to this Plate Stuck to the Reverse. The Center is Painted with a Scene after a Silver Medal by Jan Schmeltzing Showing the Attack on the Residence of Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, Chief Bailiff of Rotterdam. There are Some Figures Dismantling Beams and Masonry, Others Scaling Ladders or Spilling Bales of Merchandise into the Street Near a Cannon, the Rim with Floral Cartouches on a Diaper-Pattern Ground, the Base with a Jade Mark in Blue and White and the Engraved Mark of Augustus the Strong's Dresden Palace. The central scene is taken from a silver medal by Jan Schmeltzing (1656-1693) after an engraving by Gerard van Loon. Howard & Ayers, China for the West, vol.I, p. 60, gives a detailed account of this riot following the execution of Cornelis Kosterman in 1690. The chief bailiff, Van Zuylen van Nijevelt, had sentenced this young guard from the Rotterdam City Hall to death in his attempt to steal some wine from the cellars for a celebration with his colleagues. Howard & Ayers illustrate, China for the West, no. 15, a severed head of Cornelis Kosterman on a funerary monument, which was taken from the reverse of the medal is show in the well of the teabowls. This pattern is usually encountered on standard 8 1/2 inch plates. Small teabowls and saucers appear to be the only other form used for this design. I have given a very precise date for this plate, as the interest in this design must have been quite ephemeral. By the time the medal was stuck, sent to China to be copied and sent back the following year, the event depicted would have been 'old news'. The scene of this riot in Rotterdam is the first depiction of a European political event on Chinese porcelain that I know of. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
HATCHER CARGO c.1643 Transitional Period : Late Ming or Early Qing DynastyA Pair of Unusual Hatcher Cargo Transitional Porcelain Dishes Decorated with Prawns Provenance : Christie's Amsterdam ; Fine And Important Late Ming And Transitional Porcelain, Recently Recovered from an Asian Vessel in the South China Sea. Property of Captain Michael Hatcher. Christie's Amsterdam 14th March 1984. Label to base. The catalogue shows one lot of 6 dishes of this pattern, lot 353, illustrated on page 56. Robert McPherson Antiques The John Drew Collection of Chinese and Japanese Ceramics. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
CHONGZHEN 1628 - 1644 Ming Dynasty, Transitional Period.A Fine Late Ming Porcelain Jar, Chongzhen Period, 1628-1644. This well painted Transitional Blue and White Porcelain jar is of a shape made from the mid 1630's into the 1640's, indeed last year we sold a Transitional Porcelain jar of this form dated 1640. The present example has a feature found on better quality Transitional and Kangxi Porcelain, that is the use of a blue wash behind part of the painted painted design. Provenance : S.Marchant & Son, label to base. An Private English Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
SHUNZHI 1644 - 1661. Transitional Porcelain. A Large Blue and White Transitional Porcelain Dish, Shunzhi Period 1644 - 1661. Painted with a Large Vase of Lotus Flowers and Leaves Next to a Plant Pot with Flowers and a Scholars Rock. Provenance : The Tse Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG 1723 - 1735.A Pair of Fine and Rare Yongzheng Blue and White Porcelain Dishes with Reinforced Rims. The Detailed Central Scene is of Ten Women Involved in Scholarly Pursuits, Including Looking at a Scroll, Playing 'Go' and Playing Musical Instruments. The Women are Shown on a Terrace Gathered Around a Table with Seats and Vases, Part of a Circular Window with a Table Indoors Can be Sen on the Left. The Wall of the Terrace Leads on to a Garden with Banana Plants. The back of the dish has a six character Ming Xuande Mark (1426-1435), the sides are painted with three carefully painted groups of flowering plants and grasses growing around rocks. There are many Chinese Porcelain designs showing male scholars involved in the arts but female scholars are unusual, especially in Chinese Blue and White Porcelain. Provenance : Robert McPherson Antiques. From the Collection of Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain belonging to an American lady living in London. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
HONGZHI 1488 - 1505 or ZHENGDE 1506 - 1521.明代 Ming Porcelain. A Ming Blue and White Porcelain Water-dropper, Early 16th Century. The Globular Body has a Chickens Head Spout and a Handel in the Form of a Tail. The Sides are Decorated with Borders Including a central Panel of Scrolling lotus. For a group of three similar Ming Blue and White Porcelain water-droppers See : Chinese Blue and White Ceramics (S.T. Yeo & Jean Martin, South East Asian Ceramic Society, 1978) Page 134 Plate 35. Provenance : From a Private Collection of Early Chinese Ceramics. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. Chinese Taste Porcelain.A Fine and Rare Kangxi Dish c.1662 - 1674. Painted in Blue and White with the Addition of Copper Red, the Bold Design Depicts an Elegant Lady Dancing. The Suggestive Poem can be Translated as The Sweet Fragrant Wind Opens the Pleats of Her Embroidered Skirt. The Base with a Chenghua Six Character Mark (Ming Dynasty 1465-1487). R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Rare Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Box and Cover. Very finely painted with a Snow-Scape with a Wondering scholar and Buildings. The Base Painted in a Similar Fashion, a Apocryphal Six Character Chenghua Mark (Ming 1465-1487) in a Double Lined Rectangular Seal. This exceptionally finely painted box and cover, although owing much to the Transitional Period, was made during the Kangxi period and probably dates to the 1690's. The painting style has its origins within the group of porcelain referred to as Master of the Rocks. However, the present example does not use the linear style of painting for the rocks in the background but uses a wet brush to create the illusion of soft snow covered peaks, by contrast the figure and builds in the foreground have been picked out in a sharp angular style. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
CHONGZHEN 1628 - 1644. Transitional Period. A Finely Painted Transitional Blue and White Porcelain Jar c.1640. Decorated with a Bird on a Branch and a Scholars Rock. The painting of the branch is particularly accomplished and freely executed. The painter has used a very wet brush with great speed and dexterity in a style mirroring that of Ming scroll artists. The painting of the bird, rockwork and flowers, while more conventional, is of a very high standard with the subtle use of tones and dots. While the piece employs different painting techniques it seems that it was painted by one person. Provenance : The Late Mrs B.Joyce. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG 1736 - 1795A Fine 18th Century Blue and White Dragon Bowl. The Base with a Hall Mark. Reading : 'In the Collection of the Hall of Excellent Shade'. According to Our Customer in Canada this Hall was Located in the SHENYANG Palace, and was Built in the QIANLONG Years of 46 to 48 (1781 to 1783), this Hall was for Emperor & his Family to Watch Opera. For more information about this Palace click on the image. We had previously dated this bowl to c.1730-1750. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI (1573 - 1620). c.1580 - 1600.A Small Blue and White Porcelain Bowl. Wanli (1573 - 1620) Six Character Mark and of the Period. Decorated With an Extensive Watery Landscape. Although this Bowl has a Six Character Wanli mark and is of the Period it is never the less not Imperial, it is an Export Piece. Bowls similar to this one were recovered from the San Agustin shipwreck of 1595 at Drake's Bay, California. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. 康熙 A Kangxi Export Porcelain Dish Decorated with a Couple Hunting on Horseback. For Plate of this Type See : The Choice of the Private Trader ( By the Late David S. Howard, Zwemmer, 1994 ) page 42. Kangxi Dishes with Versions of this Pattern were Made from the 1690's to about 1720 or 1730 and were then Copied in the 19th Century. Many, as with the Present Example Bare a Chenghua Mark. David Howard notes that "The Chenghua mark (1468 1487) was not intended as a forgery, but rather as a compliment to the quality of the piece and to replace the mark of Kangxi who had forbidden the use of his name on porcelain made for export after 1682; a ban which nominally remained in force until the late 19th century". R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
HONGZHI 1488 - 1505A Rare Ming Dynasty 'Temple Vase' Hongzhi Period (1488-1505). The Large Ming Porcelain Vase has Two Mask Handels. Decorated with Flowers, Rocks and Sylised Panels. Compare to the Inscribed Dated Vase of 1496 in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art in London. Illustrated in : Ming Ceramics in the British Museum (Jessica Harrison-Hall, British Museum Press 2001) Page 174 Fig 2. Provenance of the Present Vase : Carew-Shaw Collection. Edward Carew-Shaw (1901-1998) was an Eminent Ear, Nose and Throat Surgeon at London's Bolingbroke Hospital. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722A Very Rare Kangxi Porcelain Miniature Mortar. The Shape and the Painted Design are taken from a European Bronze Mortar. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Small Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Teapot or Winepot. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE KANGXI or YONGZHENG. c.1700 - 1735. 康熙 or 雍正 A Chinese Export Porcelain Teabowl and Saucer Decorated in Blue and White With an Incised Celadon Ground. The Blue and White Decoration is of Fish and Crabs Among Water Weeds. The Back of the Saucer and the Exterior of the Teabowl is Incised With Flowering Peony Branches and Covered in a Pale Celadon Glaze. We have Three Other Similar Teabowls and Saucers. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE MING c.1600 - 1640.A Late Ming Kraak Porcelain Bottle Vase Decorated with Panels of Horses Flying Over Waves Interspersed with panels of Flowers. The Metal (Probably a Low Grade Silver Alloy) is Embossed with Horses that Match the Painted Design, this Mount was Probably Added in the Far East. The Present Piece was, like all other Kraakware, Made at the Jingdezhen kilns. However Pieces Imitating Kraakware were made at the Dehua kilns in Fujian Province from about 1580 to around 1640. This piece looks similar to many Wanli (1573 -1620) Period Kraakware Kendis, but the Design and Finish are some what different. Kraak Porcelain is a Type of Chinese Export Porcelain Produced from the Wanli Reign (1573-1620) until around 1640. It is Named after the Portuguese Ships (Carracks), in which it was Transported. Kraakware was the First Chinese Export Ware to Arrive in Europe in Large Quantities. It is Blue and White, Decorated with Stylized Flowers such as Peonies and Chrysanthemums, and with Wide Border Panels. Shapes Included Large Dishes, Bowls,Kendis,Wine Ewers,Cups and Vases. Pieces are often Warped and have Tool 'chatter marks' on the Bases. Kraakware was Much Copied by Japanese and European Pottery and Porcelain Factories in the 17th and 18th Centuries. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. c.1640. TRANSITIONAL. c.1640. A Late Ming or Early Qing Blue and White Porcelain Ewer Decorated with Boys and Stylised Tulips. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND TO TRANSITIONAL PORCELAIN (Chinese porcelain made between c.1620 and about 1670). This is a term used in the West to describe Chinese porcelain made during the turbulent times that befell China in the 17th Century. From the disintegration of the Ming Dynasty and it's eventual collapse in 1644 through the troubled start of a new 'Foreign' Qing dynastic house. The roots of this unsettled period starts during the later part of Wanli's reign (1573-1620). At the begging of his reign China was doing very well, new crops from the Americas such as peanuts, maize and sweet potatoes increased food production, while simplified taxes helped the state run smoothly. But this was not due to Wanli's enlightened reign, but to his Mother championing a man that was to become the Ming dynasties most able minister, Zhang Zhuzheng (1525—1583). Wanli became resentful of Zhuzheng's control but upon his death became withdrawn from court life. Between 1589 to 1615 he didn't appear at imperial audiences, leaving a power vacuum that was filled by squabbling ministers. Mongols from the North raided as Japan invaded Korea. Wanli re-opened the silver mines and imposed new taxes but the money was lost due to corruption, as well as being frittered away by the indulgent Emperor himself . The next emperor of Ming China, Tianqi (1621-1627), was bought up in this self indulgent disorganised environment, at the very young age 15 his short reign started. He didn't stand a chance. Tianqi made the mistake of entrusting eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568-1627) who Anna Paludan in her excellent book "Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors" (Thames and Hudson, 1998) describes as "a gangster of the first order". Tianqi was deemed to have lost the Mandate of heaven by the Ming people. Tianqi's younger brother, the last of the Ming Emperors, Chongzhen (1628-1644), was not able to save the situation. The systems of administration had broken down, corruption was rife and so when a sever famine broke out in 1628 nothing much could be done. Anna Paludan describes the tragic end to the great Ming Dynasty "The final drama was worthy of a Greek tragedy. The emperor called a last council in which 'all were silent and many wept', the imperial troops fled or surrendered, and the emperor, after helping his two sons escape in disguise, got drunk and rushed through the palace ordering the women to kill themselves. The empress and Tianqi's widow committed suicide; the emperor hacked off the arm of one daughter before killing her sister and the concubines. At dawn he laid his dragon robe aside and dressed in purple and yellow, with one foot bare, climbed the hill behind the now silent palace and hanged himself on a locust tree". The Great Wall of China, started 2,000 years ago was built to protect China from the Northern barbarian hoards, it was often tested and sometimes failed. The Jin people invaded China, ruling the North between 1115 and 1234, it was their descendants the Manchus, Jurchens from south east Manchuria that took full advantage of the problems of the Ming dynasty. In 1636 they adopted a Chinese dynastic name, the 'Great Qing' (Qing meaning pure). The first of the Qing emperors was Shunzhi (1644-1661) but for most of his reign his uncle ran the state. War raged on during this period and it wasn't until the second Qing emperor Kangxi (1662-1722) that true peace was achieved. Kangxi was a wise and educated man, he became a highly successful emperor bringing China a long period of wealth and stability. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI. c. 1690 - 1700. 康熙A Kangxi Period Chinese Export Porcelain Beaker and Saucer. The Inside of the Unusual Beaker has a European Style Wreath with what could be European Initials. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722 or YONGZHENG 1723 - 1735.A Chinese Export Porcelain Teabowl and Saucer c.1700-1735. Decorated in Celadon with Blue and White. The Blue and White Decoration With Fish and a Crab Among Aquatic Plants. The Rather Translucent Celadon Green is Incised in the Body of the Porcelain Prior to Glazing with Branches of Flowering Plants. Provenance : Prof. Dr L. B. Holthuis of the Netherlands. Prof. Holthuis was a specialist of Crustacea at the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Leiden, The Netherlands. The specices Macromia holthuisi is named after him. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE MING DYNASTY(c.1600 - 1630).明代 A Ming Blue and White Porcelain Kraakware Dish. This Moulded Chinese Porcelain Dish is Typical of Kraak ware. Kraak Porcelain was Made For Export, Mostly to Europe ( Portugal and Holland ) as Well as to South East Asia Among Other Places . It is Very Rare to Find Kraak Porcelain in China as it was Nearly All Exported. Kraak porcelain is a type of Chinese export porcelain produced from the Wanli reign (1563-1620) until around 1640. It is named after the Portuguese ships (Carracks), in which it was transported. Kraak was the first Chinese export ware to arrive in Europe in large quantities. It is Blue and White, decorated with stylized flowers such as peonies and chrysanthemums, and with wide border panels. Wares included large dishes, bowls and vases. Pieces are often warped and fused and have tool chatter marks on the bases. Kraak was copied by Arita and Delft potters R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI (c.1690 - 1710).Pair of Blue and White Kangxi Porcelain Ewers and Matched Covers Decorated with Ladies. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Small Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Jar and Cover. Decorated with Two Ladies Playing 'Go'. The Cover Decorated with a Jumping Boy. Small Kangxi Jars Such as the Present Example are Nearly Always Decorated with Go Player, with the Covers Decorated with Jumping Boys. It is Possible Such Jars were used for Storing Tea. Although Very Small they Could well have Held Small Amounts of Valuable Tea, However there Seem to be Quite a Few of them with this Design, to Many to Match up to the Small Number of Teabowls and Saucers of this Pattern. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LONGQING 1567 - 1572.A Rare Ming Porcelain Dish, Four Character Longqing Mark and of the Period. Decorated with Three 'Chilong' Dragons in Blue and White, the Center with 'Anhua' Decorated 'Lingzhi' Fungus. Longqing (March 4, 1537- July 5, 1572) was the 12th Emperor of China (Ming dynasty) and Reigned between 1567-1572. Born Zhu Zaihou, he was the Jiajing Emperor's son. Provenance : Philip's Bond Street, Chinese and Japanese Porcelain, 19th November 1999, Lot 6. Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. A Longqing Dish of this Pattern was Exhibited in Germany See : Ming-Porzellane in Schwedischen Sammlungen (Berlin and Leipzig 1935) Collection of H.Lauritzen, Stockholm. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG 1723 - 1735.A Fine Yongzheng Porcelain Beaker. Decorated in Blue and White with Figures, the Design is Possibly Taken from 'The Western Chamber'. Chenghua (Ming 1465-1487) Mark to base. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI. 1573 - 1620. 明代A Late Ming Kraak Porcelain Lobed Dish. Decorated in a Silvery Cobalt Blue with a Bird in a Watery Landscape. Old Label to Base : S.Marchant & Son, London W8. Another Label reads : Wanli 1573 -1619 . The first known time Kraak was first used as a term to describe a type of late Ming blue and white porcelain was in 1673. This was over 100 years after what we now know as Kraak porcelain was first produced, however there is some evidence that it was a term that had been in us for some time. Blue and white porcelain was exported to Europe in large quantities from the mid 16th century. It was highly prized and the Portuguese fort hard against the Dutch to keep control of this lucrative trade, but in 1602 the Dutch sold the cargo they captured from the Portuguese Carrack 'San Tiago' and two years later they sold the cargo of the 'Santa Catarina'. These sales caused a sensation, it was the first time such large amounts of Chinese blue and white porcelain had been sold in Northern Europe. The porcelain that was captured from the Portugese 'Carracks' has become known as kraak porcelain or kraakware. It was all made at the main ceramic centre in China, Jingdezhen. It does vary in style and quality to quite a large extent, and some scholars include pieces as kraakware that others do not, so a definitive description is, I feel, rather difficult. The main group of kraak porcelain is less controversial. Normally thinly potted, often moulded, it's designs are divided into decorative panels, with reserves that might include flowers and animals, taotie masks and stylised tulips. The bases often show 'Chatter Marks'. These are ridges, that radiate from the centre of the base to the foot rim, they are caused by the potters finishing tool catching on the leather hard clay prior to glazing. When one looks at the construction, painting techniques and glazing of kraak porcelain it appears similar in many ways to some of the late Ming porcelain made for the Japanese market. I think it is quite possible that they were both made within the same kilns at Jingdezhen. Kraak porcelain also includes a few rare pieces that have the addition of underglaze copper red and there are a very few know examples of polychrome kraakware. Kraak porcelain went out of fashion at the end of the Ming Dynasty but was later revived during the reign of kangxi (1662-1722). Swatow porcelain (c.1580-1640) was made in the kraak style but this is thicker and much cruder, the bases often show grit adhering. Later copies of Kraak porcleian were made in Japan (especially c.1660-1700 and c.1820-1850) R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL (c.1630 - 1645). 明代Large Late Ming or Early Qing Blue and White Chinese Porcelain Vase. Decorated with Flowers and Birds, The Neck With Stylised Tulips in The Islamic Style. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722A Small Kangxi Soft-Paste Porcelain Teapot c.1700-1720. Decorated in Blue and White with figures, one folding a flag, the other a fan, there is a rabbit painted either side of the spout. The Base with a Four Character Chenghua Mark. Jorg States, in : Chinese Porcelain in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Ming and Qing Dynasties (Christiaan Jorg, Phillip Wilson, The Rijksmuseum, 1997) "Chinese soft-pate porcelain, which is different from European soft-paste, originated about 1700 and became popular in the second quarter of the 18th century as part of the export assortment". "Unlike ordinary porcelain, it is not translucent and often has a creamy-white appearance. The glaze is often finely crackled as a result of a difference in cooling between the glaze and the body. The later is made of a white-firing clay, called huashi, 'slippery stone', the use of which is documented in the reports of 1712 and 1722 by the Jesuit Pere d'Entrecolles. As the clay was expensive, soft-paste pieces are usually small and thinly potted. They are also well-painted, as the body is particularly suitable for detailed drawing. Besides this 'true' soft-paste, there are pieces with an ordinary porcelain body and a coating of 'huashi' clay, which gives the same effect". R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. Qing Dynasty.A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Jardiniere Painted with the 'Three Friends of Winter'. Provenance : The Tse Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620 Ming Dynasty. 萬曆 明代A Wanli Blue and White Porcelain Bowl c.1580-1600. The Well Decorated with a Crane, the Border with 'Ruyi' Panels with Lotus Petals Interspersed with Jewelled Tassels. The Exterior Plain. Bowls of this type with blue and white decoration used on the inside were sometimes decorated with 'Kindrande' colours.'Kinrande' (meaning Gilt Brocade Design) Uses Green Enamel, Iron Red Pigment and Finished with Gilding. For Examples of Kinrande Ming Porcelain See : Chinese Ceramics From Japanese Collections, Tang Through Ming Dynasties (Asia House Gallery,U.S.A,1977) Pages 92 - 99. Kinrande was a New Colour Scheme used During the Jiajing and Wanli Periods. Provenance : The Loose Family Collection of South East Asian Ceramics. Formed by Reidun and Ivar Loose and partly exhibited at Verstlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, Bergen, Norway and at The Rohsska Museum, Gothenberg Sweden, 1973. Formed in Djakarta between the late 1950's and 1970. Marked 9-12 to base. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI (1662 - 1722). 康熙An Unusual Chinese Export Porcelain Mug of European Silver Shape Decorated in Blue and White. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG. c.1770 - 1785.An Unusual Qianlong Chinese Export Porcelain Plate. The European Inspired Design Shows an S-Shaped Plant Extending from a Jardiniere with a Banner (?). The Border is Decorated in the Neo-Classical Style with Swags. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
CHENGHUA to ZHENGDE PERIOD c.1460 - 1520. Ming Dynasty 明代Two Ming Porcelain Dishes, to be Sold Separately. Decorated with a Fish Left Unglazed and Fired to an Orange Iron Oxide Colour. Painted in blue and White with Water Weeds. Of 'Provincial' Type but Probably Made at Jingdezhen. These thickly potted dishes do not have a foot-rim as such but a rim of sorts is created by a circular indentation into the base. This type is sometimes referred to as the 'Hole Base' group. Provenance : The John Drew Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG c.1750.A Qianlong Semi Soft-Paste Porcelain Blue and White Saucer Dish. Well Painted with Peony and Bamboo Growing Through a Scholars Rock. Jorg States (Chinese Porcelain in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, The Ming and Qing Dynasties (Christiaan Jorg, Phillip Wilson, The Rijksmuseum, 1997)"Chinese soft-pate porcelain, which is different from European soft-paste, originated about 1700 and became popular in the second quarter of the 18th century as part of the export assortment Unlike ordinary porcelain, it is not translucent and often has a creamy-white appearance. The glaze is often finely crackled as a result of a difference in cooling between the glaze and the body. The later is made of a white-firing clay, called huashi, 'slippery stone', the use of which is documented in the reports of 1712 and 1722 by the Jesuit Pere d'Entrecolles. As the clay was expensive, soft-paste pieces are usually small and thinly potted. They are also well-painted, as the body is particularly suitable for detailed drawing. Besides this 'true' soft-paste, there are pieces with an ordinary porcelain body and a coating of 'huashi' clay, which gives the same effect". R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Small Kangxi Pedestal shaped Blue and White Porcelain Vase. Decorated with Two Panels of Ladies. Provenance : Gerald Davison Collection (label to base Kangxi CP 073) Small Vases Such as the Present Examples were Ordered in Large Quantities By the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) at the End of the Seventeenth Century. They were often used as Part of Fashionable Baroque Decorative Schemes, Displayed on Gilded Brackets and on little Ledges, in fact on any and every Available Surface. The Desired Effect was to Show the Pieces on Mass as part of a Grand Room Setting, Arranged so as to Overwhelm the Spectator. This Fashion, Sometimes Referred to as 'China Mania' was Bought from Holland to England by Mary II (Reigned 1689 -1694). Her Rooms at Kensington Palace (5 Minutes Walk from our Shop) were Decorated in this Fashion. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731) Stated that "The Queen (Mary) bought in the custom or humour, as I may call it, of furnishing houses with China-Ware, which increased to a strange degree afterwards, piling their China upon the tops of cabinets, scrutores, and every chymney-piece, to the top of the ceilings, and every setting up of shelves for their China-Ware, where they wanted such places, till it became a grievance in the experience of it, and even injurious to their families and estates". Even allowing for Artistic Licence this give an Idea of the Extent of the Fashion. This Obsession with Chinese and Japanese Porcelain Varied Slightly from Country to Country, the Type of Porcelain Varied, for Example French Inventories are Almost Exclusively of Blue and White, where as Queen Mary's Included Many Pieces of Kakiemon and Imari. The way the Pieces were Displayed also Varied. The Formal Display of Porcelain may have derived from the Italian method of organising Collections or the German Kunstkammer. The Kustkammer was a Very Mixed Display, which would put Exotic Shells next to an Animal Scull next to a Piece of Chinese Porcelain. What Ever it's Origins earlier in the Seventeenth Century it has traditionally been accredited to the Huguent Daneil Marot (1661-1752). The French Man was well Versed in the Court Taste of Louis XIV, he Took these new Ideas to Stadholder William of Holland, Later to Become William III of England, Husband of Queen Mary II. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG or EARLY QIANLONG. c.1730 -1750. 乾隆A Rare Finely Painted Xuande (1426-1435) Style Blue and White Porcelain Stem Cup Decorated. The Stem is Decorated with Scrolling Lotus. The Well of the Bowl has a Six Character Xuande Mark Within a Double circle. For a Yongle (1403-1424) Bowl of this Pattern See : Ming Ceramics in The British Museum (Jessica Harrison-Hall,The British Museum Press,2001) Page 111, Item 3:24. The Design is Described "Xi Wang Mu, the Daoist goddess of the west, dressed in an elaborate headdress and long flowing robes tied with a loose waist sash and scarf, stands in a garden beside a low balustrade holding a cassia spray. Approaching her from the right are two maids : one covers her hands with her long sleeves and greets the goddess, the other, holding a scroll or book under one arm, stands behind her. Another two women on our left are arriving, carrying a qin wrapped in textile and a box tied up in a cloth - possibly a gift for the goddess. Beyond the clouds are the roofs of a two-storey pavilion and in the distance five mountain peaks suggesting that we are viewing the fairy kingdom beyond the western hills. Auspicious plants - pine, bamboo, prunus and cassia - grow in the garden"..... She then notes there is also a Xuande mark and period bowl of this pattern in the British Museum. During the Qianlong period many Ming designs were copied, some were made for the Imperial court and bare the Qianlong mark, others such as the present example go one step further and copy the Ming mark as well as the Ming design. These were not made as fakes to deceive but as examples to fulfill the demand of educated collectors. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG. c.1770 -1780.An Unusual Blue and White Chinese Export Porcelain Junket Dish. This Moulded Porcelain Dish is an Exact Copy of an 18th Century English Porcelain Junket Dish Made at the Worcester Porcelain Factory Between c.1760 - 1775. Marked on the Base with a Crescent in Under Glaze Blue, this Would Seem to Confirm that this is a Qianlong Copy of the Worcester Original, not Just Something Made to Suit the English Market. For an Example of the Worcester Porcelain Original See : Worcester Blue and White Porcelain 1751 - 1790 ( Branyan, French and Sandon; Barrie and Jenkins 1981) Page 265, Where the Original is Described as "Uncommon" the Text goes on to say "Exact Copies of these Dishes were Made by Chinese Factories, who even used the Worcester Mark, so Some Caution is Advisable here". However the Chinese Copies are Rare than the Worcester Originals. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGX 1662 - 1722.A Small Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Double Gourd Vase. decorated with a Bird Purchurched on a Flowering Prunus Tree that is Growing from a Rock. A Butterfly Divids the Design. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Chinese Export Porcelain Teabowl and Saucer, Kangxi Period c.1700. Moulded and Painted in Blue and White with Fish, Crabs and Aquatic Plants. This Kangxi teabowl and saucer is unusual in that the moulding reflects the shape of the painted fish, rather than being just fluted. The Chinese word for fish 'yu' is pronounced in the same way as the word for abundance. So fish have come to represent prosperity and the carp is often represented as sign of success because of its perseverance, swimming up river. Pairs of fish swimming together, representing marital bliss, were common from the Southern Song (1128-1279) but it was in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) that fish swimming with aquatic plants became a common subject, the patterns were based on popular designs found in Southern China. Some of the earliest blue and white porcelain (c.1320-1350) depicts fish swimming with plants, frequently lotus as this represented purity. These Yuan designs were shown in the center of bowls and dishes surrounded by concentric geometric borders.It was not until the 16th century that freer, more open designs of fish swimming among sea weed and crabs were popular. Provenance : Prof. Dr L. B. Holthuis of the Netherlands. Prof. Holthuis was a specialist of Crustacea at the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Leiden, The Netherlands. The specices Macromia holthuisi is named after him. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620. Ming Dynasty.A Late Wanli Blue and White Kraakware Wine Pot, c.1600-1620. The Moulded Porcelain Panels are Painted in a Deep Cobalt Blue. The Design is of Large Peony and other Flowers Alternating with Figures in a Garden Landscape. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI. c. 1690 - 1700. 康熙Pair of Miniature Kangxi(1662-1722) Blue and White Porcelain Vases. Decorated with Ladies Standing between Potted Plants. Each Vase Shows a Rabbit between One Pair of Elegant Ladies. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. 康熙A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Dish. The Center is Decorated with a Prancing Qilin (Kylin) in a Garden Landscape with a Long-tailed Pheonix above, the Forground has Three Buddist Emblems. The Border is Constructed of large Pine Trees Over-lapping. For More Information about Qilins Click on the Photograph. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
MING DYNASTY (c.1480 - 1520).明代Thickly Potted Chinese Middle Ming Porcelain Dish. This Dish is Very Well Painted With a Large Peacock in a Landscape. The Cobalt Blue is of a very Strong Tone. Many Such Ming Dishes Were Made For Export to South East Asia and The Middle East as Well as the Home Market. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. c.1650 - 1670 TRANSITIONAL. c.1650 - 1670 ( Shunzhi or very early Kangxi ). An Early Qing Dynasty Porcelain Baluster Jar and Cover. Decorated in Blue and White with a Dragon Chasing a Flaming Pearl Among Clouds. For a Gu Vase with Similar Decoration Dated Gengxu Year (1670) See : Kangxi Porcelain Wares from the Shanghai Museum Collection (Shanghai Museum, Woods Publishing 1998) Page 98, Item 64. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Chinese Export Porcelain Vase, Kangxi Period (1662-1722) c.1690-1700. Decorated with Flowers. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. c.1620 - 1640. 明代A Pair of Square Transitional Porcelain Dishes Made For the Japanese market. Decorated in Blue and White With a Central Watery Landscape With a Figure on a Spit of Land Watching Boats (Three on one dish and two on the other). The Border is Painted With a Scrolling Design in Blue Over a Paler blue. Both Dishes Have The Firing Faults That Were Required By The Japanese Market. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG 1736 - 1795.A Large Qianlong Porcelain Dish c.1750. The Shallow Chinese Porcelain Dish Well Painted in a Bright Strong Cobalt Blue with a Bird on a Prunus Branch with Peony and Two Insects. Old Label to base : "2928, 4 Schotel" the rest illegible. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG 1723 - 1735.A Yongzheng Blue and White Porcelain Dish. The Base with a Six Character Yongzheng Mark and of the Period (1723-1735). Decorated with a Continous Lotus Meander of Leaves and Five Flowers. For a Yongzheng Mark and Period Dish of this Size and Pattern See : Christie's New York, Fine Chinese Ceramics, Works of Art and Furniture, June 1st 1990. Lot 258. Provenance : Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. 康熙 A Pair of Fluted Kangxi Porcelain Deep Bowls. These are Export Ware Made for the Dutch Market, From the Mid Kangxi Period of c.1690 -1700. Decorated with Two Pairs of ladies Holding Fans Facing Each Other with a Table Between. The Two Scenes are Divided by Rock Work Panels. The Inside ( well) Decorated with an Seated Elderly Man Within Double Rings and a Border of Grapes and Vine. The Bases with a Chenghua ( Ming Dynasty 1465 - 1487) Within Double Rings. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. c.1645 - 1655.A Shunzhi (1644-1661) Period Blue and White Porcelain Jar. Decorated with a Kylin and a Large Scholars Rock with Two Bamboo Plants Among 'V' Shaped Grass. The Base and Neck are Unglazed. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. c.1640. A Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Jar and Cover of Ovoid Shape. Late Ming or Early Qing Dynasty Decorated with Two Immortals in Reserved Leaf Shape Panels Set Against a Cracked Ice Ground. The Sides Decorated with Flaming Pearls and other Buddhist Images. The Cover with a Conch Shell Against a Cracked Ground. Similar Transitional Jar and Covers were Recovered from the Hatcher Cargo Shipwreck of c.1643. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620 Ming Dynasty. 萬曆 明代A Wanli Kraak Porcelain Dish, Late Ming c.1600. The white porcelain borders moulded with various diaper and Ruyi head patterns. The center painted in blue and white with birds and plants. For a similar Kraak porcelain dishs see : Kraak Porcelain, a Moment in the History of Trade (Maura Rinaldi, Bamboo Publishing Ltd, 1989) Pages 72-75. Kraak Porcelain is a Type of Chinese Export Porcelain Produced from the Wanli period (1573-1620) until the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 1640's. Kraakware or Kraak porcelain was the first Chinese Export Ware to arrive in Europe in large quantities. Its name does not, as had been previously thought derived from the name of Portuguese trading ships, it is possible its name derived from Irish ships called Curachs. These trading ships worked between Ireland and England, they were know to the Dutch traders who used a similar word, craquen, to describe Portuguese trading ships. However in the 16th and early 17th centuries the word Kraak was not used in the V.O.C. record or inventories to describe porcelain. It appears the earliest recorded use of the word Kraak relating to porcelain is in the 1670's. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. Chongzhen Period (1628-1644) c.1640. A Well Painted Transitional Porcelain Bottle Shaped Vase, Chongzhen Period (1628-1644). Painted in Rich Shades of Blue with Figures in a Landscape. The Neck Decorated with Stylised Tulips in the Islamic Style. The Painting of this Vase is Typical of the 'High Transitional' Style and Includes Bamboo Plants, Rocks and the well known 'V' shape grass. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. Chongzhen or Early Shunzhi c.1635 - 1650.A Large Transitional Kraak Porcelain Blue and White Bowl c.1635 to 1650. Decorated with an Eclectic Mix of Styles, Including Borders with Tulips in the Turkish Iznik Style, Kraak Type Panels, Chinese Figures in Landscapes and European Style Houses in Chinese Landscapes. For three bowls in this late Kraak style that incorporate transitional porcelain elements see : Kraak Porcelain, A Moment in the History of Trade (Maura Rinaldi, Bamboo Publishing,1989) Pages 163 - 164 Plates 202 - 204. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
Chongzhen 1628 - 1644. Transitional.Transitional, Chongzhen 1628 - 1644 Period. A Well Painted Blue and White Ming Porcelain Double Gourd Vase. Decorated with Two Scholars in a Rocky Garden landscape with Bamboo. The Neck with Iznik Style Tulip Motifs. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. 康熙A Pair of Small Kangxi Porcelain Saucer Shape Dishes. Six Character Kangxi Mark and of the Period. Decorated with the 'Aster' Pattern in a Rich Deep Cobalt Blue. For a Dish of this Pattern see : Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, The Ming and Qing Dynasties (Christiaan J. A. Jorg, Rijiksmuseum, 1997 ) page 95, item 85. Traditionaly Known as the Aster Pattern but not Based on Asters, the Design was Especially Popular in the Middle East. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE KANGXI or YONGZHENG. (c.1700 - 1735).Moulded Blue and White Porcelain Teabowl and Saucer. Chinese Porcelain Made for Export to Europe. One of several with the same pattern. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI (c.1690 - 1710). 康熙A Blue and White Porcelain Kangxi Moulded Vase. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Bowl. The Base with a Six Character Kangxi Mark and of the Period. This Bowl with its Everted Flat Rim is Typical of a Range of Chinese Porcelain Bowls Made for the Dutch Market from about 1690 to 1710. Varying in Size and Shape, but Normally of Good Quality, they Often Have Scenes Taken from Chinese Woodblock Prints. From a Private Collection, Previously Bought from Robert McPherson Antiques. For Two Kangxi Bowls of this Shape See ; Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (Christiaan J. A. Jorg, Philip Wilson Publishing, 1997) page 104-105, items 96 and 97. David Howard notes that "The Chenghua mark (1468 1487) was not intended as a forgery, but rather as a compliment to the quality of the piece and to replace the mark of Kangxi who had forbidden the use of his name on porcelain made for export after 1682; a ban which nominally remained in force until the late 19th century". It appears this ban was not enforced, or if it was only partly enforced, as we have had many Kangxi export pieces made after this date (1682) that bare the six character mark and are of the Kangxi period like the present example. It is worth noting that many 19th century copies of Kangxi blue and white bare a four character Kangxi mark, something you do not find on real Kangxi porcelain. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. (c.1690 - 1700).A Kangxi Blue and White Export Porcelain Beaker after a European Glass Form. Decorated in a Cross-Hatched Style Reminisant of European Engravings of the Period. For Very Similar Examples From The Vung Tau Cargo are Illustrated in : The Vung Tau Cargo, Chinese Export Porcelain (Christie's Amsterdam April 1992) Lots 64 -85. Many of these Kangxi Beakers have or had Covers but the Fact that the Present Example does not have an Unglazed Rim and the Angle the Rim is Everted Show that this Beaker would not have had a Cover. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620.A Fine Ming Blue and White Porcelain Dish. Wanli Six Character Mark and of the Period. Decorated with Kylin and a Tiger in a Landscape. For a Wanli Mark and Period Dish of this Size and Pattern From the Riesco Collection that was Exhibited at the O.C.S. Exhibition of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 14th to 19th Centuries (1953, Catalogue Number 173) See : Sotheby's Fine Chinese Ceramics, Bronzes and Works of Art, London, 11th December 1984. Lot 327. Provenance : Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
EARLY KANGXI c.1670 A Large Kangxi Porcelain Dish Decorated in the 'Master of the Rocks' Style. The Back with a 'Trench Foot' (effectively a double footrim, the the curved area between the two 'feet' is left unglazed, only the outter foot rim supports the dish, the inner rim is too shallow). The Back Decorated with Three Boldly Painted Sprays of Bamboo. The phrase 'Master of the Rocks' is unfamiliar to many Chinese, it is another invented category used by western scholars and collectors to pigeonhole groups of Chinese ceramics, rather like Kraakware or Celadon. However unlike either of these 'Master of the Rocks' first coined by Gerald Reitlinger, is a clear, distinct group. This style lasted from about 1645 to 1690. The highly distinctive painting style consists of landscapes with massive powerful mountains in a linier technique. The style is, for want of a better word, ‘painterly’ and often includes distant mountains painted with a very wet brush that contrast with the linier mountains in the mid ground. The style usually employs a technique of blobby dots, either in the landscape or as a border. These dots are painted with a wet brush and have no outline. These designs were certainly inspired by late Ming scroll painters like Wang Jinazhng (active c.1628 – 1644). The same use of brushstrokes in contour like parallels lines can be seen. Mountains with jagged peaks are piled up creating a dramatic structure. But where as many of the scroll painters are known, the ceramics artists are anonymous. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
CHENGHUA to ZHENGDE PERIOD c.1460 - 1520. Ming Dynasty 明代A Ming Porcelain Dish, Chenghua to Zhengde Period c.1460-1520. Decorated with a Fish Left Unglazed and Fired to an Orange Iron Oxide Colour. Painted in blue and White with Water Weeds. Of 'Provincial' Type but Probably Made at Jingdezhen. These thickly potted dishes do not have a foot-rim as such but a rim of sorts is created by a circular indentation into the base. This type is sometimes referred to as the 'Hole Base' group. Blue and white porcelain known as Qinghua in China, meaning Blue decoration refers to Chinese porcelain decorated with Cobalt prior to glazing. It is painted on as a muddy black/brown colour, it is them given a layer of transparent glaze and fired. The process of firing turns the cobalt into a blue colour, varying in tone depending on the quality of the cobalt and the way it is fired. It was first used in the Tang Dynasty as an additional colour for Sancai pottery, it was also used occasionally for decorating pottery without any other colours. It was not until the Yuan Dynasty that Blue and White became a popular colour scheme for Chinese Porcelain. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL, Chongzhen 1628 - 1644A Rare Transitional Porcelain Winepot, Chongzhen Period (1628-1644). In the form of a pomegranate and decorated in blue and white with 'Floating Branches'. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
HATCHER CARGO c.1643. ( Transitional Period : Late Ming or Early Qing ).Hatcher Cargo, Transitional Porcelain c.1643. A Large Rare Hatcher Cargo Box and Cover Decorated in Blue and White With a Cat Catching a Large Butterfly. For similar Hatcher Cargo boxes and covers see : Fine And Important Late Ming And Transitional Porcelain, recently recovered from an Asian vessel in the South China Sea. Property of Captain Michael Hatcher. Christie's Amsterdam 14th March 1984. lots 74 - 77. The Hatcher Cargo was the first shipwreck cargo to come on to the market. It was sold in three auctions in Christie's Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985. It is a very important cargo of shipwreck ceramics, despite the lack of historical evidence recorded by the salvage team. A porcelain cover dated to the Spring of 1643 helps confirm the date of the wreck. The Ming dynasty ended in 1644 and the period of chaos between between the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty is referred to as the Transitional period. The Hatcher Cargo is a vital dating tool for late Ming and early Qing porcelain. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI c.1580 - 1600. Ming Dynasty. 萬曆 明代A Wanli Blue and White Porcelain Bowl (1573-1620). The Well Decorated with Two Birds, the Inner Border of Geometric Patterns with Four Flower-Head Panels. The Exterior Plain Apart from a Simple Scrolling Design Around the Foot. Bowls of this type with blue and white decoration used on the inside were sometimes decorated with 'Kindrande' colours.'Kinrande' (meaning Gilt Brocade Design) Uses Green Enamel, Iron Red Pigment and Finished with Gilding. For Examples of Kinrande Ming Porcelain See : Chinese Ceramics From Japanese Collections, Tang Through Ming Dynasties (Asia House Gallery,U.S.A,1977) Pages 92 - 99. Kinrande was a New Colour Scheme used During the Jiajing and Wanli Periods. Provenance : The Loose Family Collection of South East Asian Ceramics. Formed by Reidun and Ivar Loose and partly exhibited at Verstlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, Bergen, Norway and at The Rohsska Museum, Gothenberg Sweden, 1973. Formed in Djakarta between the late 1950's and 1970. Marked R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Kangxi Blue and White Export Porcelain Dish of European Form Decorated with Fish and Crabs Among Aquatic Plants. The Cobalt Blue is of a Better Tone than Normal. For a similar but larger Kangxi blue and white dish of this shape and design see : L'Odyssee De La Porcelaine Chinoise ( Various Authors, Editions de la reunion des musees national Paris,2003. ISBN 2-7118-4601-6) Page 168 Item 68 Illustrated on page 129. Chinese Export Porcelain dishes of this shape and variants of it are well known and this specific shape was a popular one for this design. Originally deriving from silver, it is also common in Dutch Delft Ware, both in blue and white as well as plain white Delft pottery. For two 17th century white Deft Pottery examples of a similar shape to the present example see : Delft, Niederlandische Fayence (D.F Lunsingh Scheurleer, Klinkhardt & Bierman,1984. ISBN 1-7814-0211-8) Pages 238-239 items 155 and 156. Provenance : Prof. Dr L. B. Holthuis of the Netherlands. Prof. Holthuis was a specialist of Crustacea at the National Museum of Natural History Naturalis in the Leiden, The Netherlands. The specices Macromia holthuisi is named after him. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Bowl. The Base with a Six Character Mark and of the Period (1662-1722). Chinese Export Porcelain bowls of this type were popular from c.1690 to 1710 or 1720. They sit on high footrims and have everted rims, they were a form popular with the Dutch. The designs on this type of blue and white Chinese porcelain were frequently taken from classic work of literature that were illustrated with woodcuts. So despite being of a European form, the type of painted decoration is part a Chinese Porcelain tradition stretching back to the Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) and beyond. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. Chongzhen (Ming 1628-1644) or Shunzhi (1644-1661). c.1630 - 1650. 明代 An Unusual Late Ming or Very Early Qing Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Dish Made for the Japanese Market. Incised with a Fish Swimming among Water Weeds. The Back Painted with Stylised Ruyi Head Fungus. The Base with a Chenghua (Ming 1465 - 1487) Six Character Mark. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Kangxi Porcelain Double Gourd Shaped Vase. Decorated in Blue and White with a Crane in Flight above Flowering Lotus. The Bulbous Neck is Decorated with Sprigs of Peony and Prunus. Kangxi Period c.1690 -1710. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI to CHONGZHEN c.1580 - 1640. Ming Dynasty.明代A Late Ming Blue and White 'Swatow' Porcelain Bowl. The Exterior is Plain. The Interior is Similar to the 'Walsingham Bowl' at Burghley (see below). Decorated with a Roundel to the Well Containing a Mountainous Shore-side Landscape Surrounded by Cakra motifs (representing the Buddhist 'Wheel of law') . The Border with an Extensive Shore-side Landscape with Mountains, Flags, Pagodas and Boats. Between these Two Designs are Ten Wheels. The Outside of the Bowl is Decorated with Flying Horses Above Flowering Branches. 'Walsingham' Bowl at Burghley House. The Bowl with its Fine Silver-gilt Mounts was, According to Tradition, a Gift from Queen Elizabeth I to her Godchild Thomas Walsingham (1568 -1630, a Cousin of the Queen's Minister Sir Francis Walsingham). See : The Burghley Porcelains, An Exhibition from The Burghley House Collection and Based on the 1688 Inventory and 1690 Devonshire Schedule (Japan Society, New York,1986) page 80 and Illustrated on page 81, item 5. The Catalogue Goes on to say "We Know Sir Francis Drake Brought Back to England in 1580 China from a Captured Spanish Ship, and it Would be Surprising if Some of the China had not Gone to the Queen, who had Bought Shares in Drake's Voyage. Several Sherds of Blue and White, Found at Drake's Bay in California where Sir Francis is said to Have Careened his Ships, Bare Designs Greatly Resembling those on this Bowl".... " In 1731 Lady Osborne, Granddaughter of Sir Thomas Walsingham, gave the Bowl to the Eighth Earl of Exeter, the Only Male Heir of the Family". The Walsingham Bowl has Been Repaired. For Another Example See : Kraak Porcelain (Maura Rinaldi,Bamboo Publishing,1989,London) Page 146, Shape II.1. Later Cruder Examples were Recovered From the Hatcher Cargo of c.1643. For a Further Wanli Bowl of this Design in the Ardebil Collection See : Chinese Porcelain Collections in the Near east, Topkapi and Ardebil (T.Misugsi,Hong Kong University Press,1972. Reprint of 1981) Item A.157. Provenance : The Loose Family Collection of South East Asian Ceramics. Formed by Reidun and Ivar Loose and partly exhibited at Verstlandske Kunstindustrimuseum, Bergen, Norway and at The Rohsska Museum, Gothenberg Sweden, 1973. Formed in Djakarta between the late 1950's and 1970. Marked 7-81 and 6A6279 to the base. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. Qing Dynasty.A Chinese Export Porcelain Ewer and Cover, Kangxi Period 1662-1722. Decorated in Blue and White with Flowers. The Mounts are 18th or 19th Century. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
JIAJING 1522 - 1566.A Ming Blue and White Porcelain Jar, Jiajing Period. Jiajing Six Character Mark and of the Period. Provenance : Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection. IF YOU WOULD LIKE EMAIL NOTIFICATION OF NEW STOCK ADDED TO THE WEBSITE GO TO THE HOME PAGE AND CLICK ON THE EMAIL/SUBSCRIBE BUTTON. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Pair of Kangxi Blue and White Export Porcelain Square Bottle Vases. Decorated with Abstract Motifs. Provenance : J.P. Argenti Collection (Old Label to Base). An American Estate. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
QIANLONG. c.1750A Very Rare Inscribed Qianlong Teapot. The Base Inscribed Under the Glaze by the Potter "Wong Yi Hing Made". Next to this is an Incised Drawing of a Flower. It is Very Rare to Find a Potters Signature on a Peice of Qianlong Porcelain, I have not Seen One and I have not been Able to Find One in the Litrature. A Further Inscription Scratched into the Glaze, Proabably Using a Diamond Point, Reads "Bosenque". This is Either the Signature of the 'repairer' Who Added the Metal Rivits to the Spout or an Owner. The Copper-Plate Writing Appears to be 18th or 19th Century. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG (1723 - 1735). 雍正Yongzheng Period,Blue and White European Silver Shape Teapot and Cover. Chinese Export Porcelain. The Yongzheng Emperor (born Yinzhen 胤禛 December 13, 1678 - October 8, 1735) was the fourth emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and the third Qing emperor to rule over China, from 1722 to 1735. A tough and hard-working ruler, Yongzheng was bent on effective government at minimum expense. Like his father, the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng used military force to preserve the dynasty's position. Suspected by historians to have usurped the throne, his reign was often called despotic, but efficient, and vigorous, albeit much shorter than the famous reigns of both his father the Kangxi Emperor and his son the Qianlong Emperor, his sudden death was probably brought about by his constant workload. Yongzheng continued an era of continued peace and prosperity as he cracked down on corruption, waste, and reformed financial administration. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
EARLY KANGXI (C.1670 - 1680). 康熙Blue and White Kangxi Porcelain Plate in the 'Master of the Rocks' style. The phrase 'Master of the Rocks' is unfamiliar to many Chinese, it is another invented category used by western scholars and collectors to pigeonhole groups of Chinese ceramics, rather like Kraakware or Celadon. However unlike either of these, Master of the Rocks, first coined by Gerald Reitlinger, is a clear, distinct group. This style lasted from about 1645 to 1690. The highly distinctive painting style consists of landscapes with massive powerful mountains in a linier technique. The style is, for want of a better word, ‘painterly’ and often includes distant mountains painted with a very wet brush that contrast with the linier mountains in the mid ground. The style usually employs a technique of blobby dots, either in the landscape or as a border. These dots are painted with a wet brush and have no outline. These designs were certainly inspired by late Ming scroll painters like Wang Jinazhng (active c.1628 – 1644). The same use of brushstrokes in contour like parallels lines can be seen. Mountains with jagged peaks are piled up creating a dramatic structure. But where as many of the scroll painters are known, the ceramics artists are anonymous. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
EARLY KANGXI. c.1670. 康熙EARLY KANGXI. c.1670. A Fine Slender Pear Shaped Blue and White Porcelain Vase in the Master of the Rocks Style. Inscribed with a Poem Relating to the Subject Matter of the Vase. The Central Taller Lady with her Attendents is Recalling the First Meeting of the Man She Will Marry. She is Thinking about What Chance Led Her to Meet Him on an Autumn Day When Leaves Were Red. This Very Well Painted Kangxi Vase has Several Elements that Tie it into the Master of the Rocks Group but the Lack of 'Piled-up' Mountains Does, to Some Extent, Distance this From the Main Master of the Rocks Group. The Other Side of the River Bank is Painted in a Linier Technique, with Finely Drawn Lines with the Typical 'Blobby dots' that are Associated with this Group. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YUAN DYNASTY. 1279 - 1368.YUAN DYNASTY. 1279 - 1368. A Rare Yuan Blue and White Porcelain Stem Cup. Decorated with a Panel of Calligraphy. The Inscription would Seem to Bestow Good Wishes to the User. Exhibited at ; The Oriental Ceramic Society of Hong Kongs Exhibition of Trade Ceramics, Item 89. Label to the Base and another to the Fitted Box. For a very Similar Inscribed Blue and White Yuan Stem Cup See : Chinese Blue and White Ceramics (S.T. Yeo & Jean Martin,Arts Orientalis,1978) Page 96, Illustrated Plate 2, Item 3. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YUAN DYNASTY (1279 - 1368) c.1320- 1350. 元朝A Very Early Small Blue and White Chinese Export Porcelain Jar. From the Late Yuan Dynasty, Jingdezhen Kilns. This Small Porcelain Jar has Two Lugg Handels and is Painted in a Blackish Under-Glaze Blue with a Flowering Branch. Made for Export to South East Asia. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Pair of Small Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Vases. Of Moulded Pedastal Form with Rings Dressed in Brown Iron Oxide. Decorated with Four Panels of a A Lady Holding Flowering Twigg and two panels of an Urn Filled with Flowers. Provenance : Both with Old Labels Reading "S.Marchant & Son London W8". Small Vases Such as the Present Examples were Ordered in Large Qantitiies By the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) at the End of the Seventeenth Century. They were often used as Part of Fashionable Baroque Decorative Schemes, Displayed on Gilded Brackets and on little Ledges, in fact on any and every Avalible Surface. The Desired Effect was to Show the Pieces on Mass as part of a Grand Room Setting, Arranged so as to Overwhelm the Spectator. This Fashion, Sometimes Refered to as 'China Mania' was Bought from Holland to England by Mary II (Reigned 1689 -1694). Her Rooms at Kensington Palace (5 Minutes Walk from our Shop) were Decorated in this Fashion. Daneil Defoe (1660-1731) Stated that "The Queen (Mary) bought in the custom or humour, as I may call it, of furnishing houses with China-Ware, which increased to a strange degree afterwards, piling their China upon the tops of cabinets, scrutores, and every chymney-piece, to the top of the ceilings, and every setting up of shelves for their China-Ware, where they wanted such places, till it became a grievance in the experence of it, and even injurious to their families and estates". Even allowing for Artistic Licence this give an Idea of the Extent of the Fashion. This Obsession with Chinese and Japanese Porcelain Varied Slightly from Country to Country, the Type of Porcelain Varied, for Example French Inventories are Almost Exclusively of Blue and White, where as Queen Mary's Included Many Pieces of Kakiemon and Imari. The way the Pieces were Displayed also Varied. The Formal Display of Porcelain may have derived from the Italian method of organising Collections or the German Kunstkammer. The Kustkammer was a Very Mixed Display, which would put Exotic Shells next to an Animal Scull next to a Piece of Chinese Porcelain. What Ever it's Origins earlier in the Seventeeth Century it has traditionally been acredited to the Huguent Daneil Marot (1661-1752). The French Man was well Versed in the Court Taste of Louis XIV, he Took these new Ideas to Stadholder William of Holland, Later to Become William III of England, Husband of Queen Mary II. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Pair of Kangxi Export Porcelain Plates Decorated in Blue and White with Islamic Inspired Geometric Designs. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
YONGZHENG 1723 - 1735. Qing dynasty.A Yongzheng Blue and White Porcelain Bowl. Six Character Yongzheng Mark and of the Period (1723-1735). Decorated with Two Figures in a Landscape by the Waters Edge. The foreground is decorated in the 'pencilled' style of lines without shading, the distant mountains are painted with a wet brush and no outlines. The well of the bowl is decorated with a fisherman at the waters edge. Small bowls from the Yongzheng period are sometimes encountered, as with the present example, with non-imperial Yongzheng marks, the drawing of the mark is often poor. They are useful as they give a Yongzheng date to pieces that might otherwise have been given a Kangxi or even Qianlong attribution. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
Jiajing to Early Wanli. c.1550 - 1580. Ming Dynasty 明代A Small Late Ming Blue and White Porcelain Dish. Decorated with a Central Qilin. The Border of this thickly Potted Ming Dish is Decorated with a Diaper Pattern Found on many Pieces of Jiajing Period (1522-1566) Porcelain. The Reverse is Painted with Flowering Branches. The Qilin, also spelled Kylin (Chinese: 麒麟; Pinyin: qílín; Wade-Giles: ch'ilin), Kirin (in Japanese), or Kỳ lân (in Vietnamese), is a mythical hoofed Chinese chimerical creature that is said to appear in conjunction with the arrival of a sage. It is a good omen that brings rui (Chinese: 瑞; pinyin: ruě; roughly translated as "serenity" or "prosperity"). It is often depicted with what looks like fire all over its body. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
JIAJING. 1522 - 1566. 明代A Small Late Ming, Jiajing Period, Blue and White Export Porcelain Dish. Decorated with a Central 'Shou' Character (used to represent Life, Age or a birthday) and a Diaper Pattern Border. The Shou character meaning longevity is one of the most important auspicious symbols in Chinese culture.It is extensively used on textiles of the Ming and Qing dynasties. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722.A Kangxi Porcelain Bowl, c.1690-1710. Decorated in Blue and White a Flared Rim. This Kangxi porcelain is a typical product of the mid-Kangxi to late Kangxi period, Chinese export porcelain bowls of this type were made for the upper and middle classes of Holland and England. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI (c.1680). 康熙A Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Bowl Decorated with Boys Among Lotus Flowers. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
WANLI 1573 - 1620.A Pair of Blue and White Ming Porcelain Baluster Vases, Wanli Period (1573-1620). Painted in the 'Pencilled' Style (line decoration without areas of tonal wash). Decorated with lotus, chrysanthemum, bamboo, with a bird in flight. The lower register with crashing waves. The shoulder decorated with a diaper pattern with three roundels containing flower-heads. For a pair of similar Ming porcelain vases see : Yuan and Ming Blue and White From Jiangxi (Various authors Jiangxi Provincial Museum and the Art Museum, The Chinese University of Hong Kong,2002) Item 97. Provenance : The Karl-Johan Thornander Collection 069. Label to the base of both vases. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
KANGXI c.1680 - 1700.A Rare Kangxi blue and White 'Master of the Rocks' Style Limepot. decorated with an extensive water front landscape. Made for the Vietnamese's market. Limepots were used in Vietnam for lime to help break down the out layer of the bettle nut which was then chewed. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |
LATE WANLI. c.1600 - 1620. 明代A Late Ming Blue and White Kraakware Porcelain Plate with a Shaped Edge. This Early Chinese Export Plate is Decorated with a Typical Kraak Porcelain Design of Birds in a Watery Landscape. The Base Shows 'Chatter Marks'. For more Information about Kraakware Click on the Image. R and G McPherson dealers in Chinese blue and white porcelain |