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March 2023 Update – New Resources, Auctions and Arrivals


This month we’ve added a new resource to our website: Chinese Export Silver Marks Identification Guide. This glossary lists some of the most common marks of artisan and retail silversmiths found on antique Chinese export silver. We’ve also added many new Buy it Now items to our shop and exclusive Catawiki auctions closing next week! Read the full list below.

Visit Asian Art Curator to bid on latest eBay auctions closing this week. Featured auctions are being added throughout the week so make sure to stay up to date! Our Resource Hub features a complete list of Asian art resources that can be found on our website.

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Newly Added Resource
Chinese Export Silver Marks Identification Guide
Chinese Export Silver Marks Identification Guide
Latest auctions and new arrivals
Antique Chinese Silk Embroidery Gold Thread Art Deco Clutch Bag. c. 1930s


AUCTION – Antique Chinese Silk Embroidery Gold Thread Art Deco Clutch Bag. c. 1930s

Fantastic Chinese Art Deco clutch bag with very fine gold thread silk embroidery panel and blue border. Inside all original accessories including a bevelled mirror and purse.

Dimensions: 34×21 cm open, 21×17 cm closed.

Auction ends 7 April 2023


Fine Chinese Carved Gilt Lacquered Wood Figures of Seated Daoist Immortals


AUCTION – Fine Chinese Carved Gilt Lacquered Wood Figures of Seated Daoist Immortals

Stunning pair of Chinese gilt lacquered carved figures depicting seated Daoist immortals or similar deities, each in long flowing robes and carrying ceremonial objects. Beards made out of horse hair. I would say they date to c. Republic period (based on how well preserved the surface is) even though most similar examples that I’ve come across are dated as late Qing.

Height: 22 and 24 cm tall (8.5 and 9.5 inches)

Auction ends 7 April 2023

Antique Chinese Carved Red Cinnabar Lacquer Rectangular Box. Early 20th century


Antique Chinese Carved Red Cinnabar Lacquer Rectangular Box. Early 20th century

Very nicely carved Chinese cinnabar lacquer box and cover depicting a garden scene with scholars discussing under a large pine tree.

Dimensions: 13x13x5.5 cm


Antique Chinese Sancai Glazed Porcelain Foo Lion Joss Stick Holder. Qing Dynasty


Antique Chinese Sancai Glazed Porcelain Foo Lion Joss Stick Holder. Qing Dynasty

Cute antique Chinese porcelain foo lion resting its paw on its puppy. Covered in Famille verte type green, yellow and brown enamels. Holder on its back designed to serve as an incense burner. It appears to be a 19th century Qing dynasty example.

Height: 19 cm


Fine Japanese Hagi Ware Pottery Vase by Tamamura Shogetsu


Fine Japanese Hagi Ware Pottery Vase by Tamamura Shogetsu

Fabulous 20th century Hagi-yaki crane neck vase by Tamamura Shogetsu 玉村松月, Kofuan kiln. Marked with a circular stamped seal that reads 松月 ‘Shogetsu’ and with its original inscribed and signed tomobako.

Height: 24 cm



Antique Japanese Wooden Fubako Covered in Menuki Tsuka Ornaments c. Meiji Period

Very lovely antique Japanese fubako style wooden box covered all over in menuki ornaments, originally intended as a decoration for handles of katanas. Dating to c. Meiji period, late 19th or early 20th century.

Dimensions: 24x9x3.5 cm



Fine Japanese Haribako Sewing Box Tansu Chest 針箱 Showa Period

Vintage Japanese Haribako (sewing box) that can also be used as a jewellery cabinet or a trinket box. Features four drawers and hinged lid at the top.

Dimensions: 27×24.5×20 cm



Fine Antique Japanese Gilt Lacquered Fubako Letter Box Nashiji Interior. Meiji Period

Fine antique Japanese rectangular gilt-lacquered box with raised decoration featuring a golden pheasant perched on a blossoming tree. Nashiji-decorated interior.

Dimensions: 24x9x4.5 cm



Antique Chinese Imari Porcelain Tea Bowl Cup and Saucer Symbol Mark. 18th Century

Great antique 18th century Chinese export imari porcelain tea bowl and saucer. Unusual iron red and gilt flower symbol mark to the base of the cup.

Dimensions
Saucer – diameter 13 cm
Tea bowl – diameter 8 cm, height 4.5 cm


Antique Chinese Export Silver Peach Shaped Dish With Chased Inscription. CumWo, 1860-1920
Antique Chinese Export Silver Peach Shaped Dish With Chased Inscription. CumWo, 1860-1920

Antique Japanese Imari Porcelain Vase Marked Zoshuntei Sanpo 蔵春亭三保造. Late Edo Period
Antique Japanese Imari Porcelain Vase Marked Zoshuntei Sanpo 蔵春亭三保造. Late Edo Period

Antique Japanese Seto Porcelain Blue and White Vase With Birds and Flowers





Chinese Antique Celadon Glazed Guan-Type Vases With S-Shape Handles. Yuan Dynasty





Antique Chinese gilt lacquer chess backgammon board. 19th c., Qing dynasty

Vintage Japanese Takaoka Doki Patinated Bronze Copperware Vases Houun 峰雲 Showa



Antique Chinese Export Porcelain Grisaille Tea Caddy 18th Century. Qianlong era




Hanbeh Mizuno Antique Japanese Gold Lacquer Photograph of Shinkyo Bridge, Nikko





February 2023 Update – Chinese ‘Kutani’ Porcelain and New eBay Items


Earlier this month, we published our new blog post on 19th century Chinese imitations of Japanese porcelain titled ‘Unusual Chinese Export Porcelain in Japanese Kutani Style’. What’s more, some of the pieces featured in this post are currently up for auction on eBay. Here’s your chance to add one of these rare pieces to your collection! Scroll down to see all the latest eBay auctions and exclusive ‘Buy It Now’ items added to our shop this February.

Visit Asian Art Curator to bid on latest eBay auctions closing this week. Featured auctions are being added throughout the week so make sure to stay up to date! Our Resource Hub features a list of all free Asian art resources.

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive monthly product updates via e-mail. Easiest way to get all the latest updates is to follow our instagram and facebook pages.

Our latest blog post
Unusual Chinese Export Porcelain in Japanese Kutani Style
New eBay auctions and exclusive items
Antique Chinese Rouge de Fer Porcelain Vases in Japanese Kutani Style. Late Qing Dynasty


AUCTION – Antique Chinese Rouge de Fer Porcelain Vases in Japanese Kutani Style. Late Qing Dynasty

This is a rare pair of late 19th century Chinese (Cantonese) export porcelain vases of typical form with applied chimeras and foo lion handles. What’s unusual about them is that they are decorated in a pattern commonly referred to as ‘hundred scholars’ that is characteristic of Japanese Kutani porcelain.

Height: approx. 25.5 cm each

Auction ends 26 February 2023.


AUCTION – Antique CHINESE Rouge de Fer Porcelain Dish in Japanese Kutani Style Late Qing

Another rare late 19th century Chinese (Cantonese) rouge de fer export porcelain dish decorated in a typical Japanese Kutani pattern commonly referred to as ‘hundred scholars’.

Diameter: 23.8 cm

Auction ends 26 February 2023.


AUCTION – Antique CHINESE Rouge de Fer Porcelain Dish #2 in Japanese Kutani Style. Guangxu Period

This is the third piece representing late 19th century Chinese (Cantonese) rouge de fer export porcelain decorated in a typical Japanese Kutani pattern commonly referred to as ‘hundred scholars’.

Diameter: 20 cm

Auction ends 26 February 2023.


Antique Chinese Relief Carved Wooden Box With Domed Lid. Canton Export Carving

Lovely Chinese box with domed lid, carved in low relief all over. Decoration features foliate scrolls and bird inside a circular medallion. Wood has nice natural dry surface. Lock has been at some point replaced.

Dimensions: 23x11x11 cm



Antique Japanese Red Lacquered Jewellery Cabinet With Floral Decoration

Beautiful early 20th century Japanese red lacquered table cabinet with 7 drawers, two of which are behind hinged doors with nicely hand-painted bird and floral decoration. Unique design of this cabinet allows it to be separated into two independent units – originally designed with additional board at the top that would transform it into a miniature desk. Would make a great jewellery or trinket box. 

Dimensions: 30x23x20 cm



Large Antique Japanese Kutani Porcelain Okimono Figure Reading a Book. 28 cm / 11″

Lovely large Kutani porcelain figure of a scholar in long flowing robes, depicted standing on a rock and reading a book.  Beautifully hand-painted with colourful overglaze enamels all around.

Diameter: 28 cm / 11 inches



Vintage Hand-Painted Tibetan Buddha Mandala Thangka / Tangka on Canvas. Framed.

Lovely little Tibetan Buddha mandala thangka hand-painted in opaque watercolours on canvas. Nicely framed and glazed.

Frame measures 31.5×27 cm, visible area of the painting is 21×16.5 cm



Antique Japanese Sumida Gawa Pottery Brush Washer or Vase in the Manner of Ishiguro Koko

Cute Japanese Sumida Gawa brush washer or a small vase with two applied figures of Chinese children (karako). Not signed but done very much in the manner of Ishiguro Koko 石黒香々. 

Height: 11 cm



Antique Japanese Kenjo Imari Porcelain Plate With Chenghua Mark

Stunning Japanese Imari porcelain dish with shaped rim. Featuring a large central medallion with scholars in the garden, framed by four cartouches with Ho-o birds and dragons. All set against nicely done green and aubergine diaper background. Underglaze blue apocryphal Chinese Chenghua reign mark underneath.  

Diameter: 23.2 cm


Antique Chinese Biscuit Glazed Famille Verte Porcelain Equestrian Figure Group

Fine Antique Japanese Cloisonne Charger Plate With Cranes. Meiji Period

Fine Antique Japanese Cloisonne Dish With a Shi-shi Foo Lion. Meiji Period



LARGE ANTIQUE CHINESE SICHUAN POTTERY FIGURE. EASTERN HAN DYNASTY (25–220 A.D.)



Unusual Chinese Export Porcelain in Japanese Kutani Style

Unusual Chinese Export Porcelain in Japanese Kutani Style


Did you know that Chinese made copies of Japanese Kutani porcelain in the late 19th century? Me neither. After acquiring a unique Chinese dish decorated in typical Kutani style – complete with mock Kutani mark! – I was curious to learn more. However, sifting through literature and searching online didn’t help – there appears to be no mention of these anywhere. One of the curators at V&A told us that they remember Rupert Faulkner, their retired Senior Curator of Japanese Art, mentioning Chinese copies of 19th century Japanese export ceramics in a conversation some years ago. This anecdotal evidence was all I had at this point.

I kept searching and was later able to find additional examples of Canton porcelain decorated in the Kutani style and similar pieces in other collections which are mentioned below. But the question remains – why did they do it? Anthony M. Lee suggested in our original post that this might have been a response of Chinese decorators to increased popularity of Japanese motifs during the craze of Japonisme in Europe in the second half of the 19th century. I personally like that theory and it makes a lot of sense.

Chinese Kutani style decorated porcelain
This is the dish that started our interest in this topic. At first glance just a normal Japanese Kutani plate but you flip it over and realize that this is a 19th century piece of Chinese porcelain typical of Canton export pieces. It is 20 cm in diameter.
Chinese Kutani style decorated porcelain
Detail of the foot.
Chinese Kutani style decorated porcelain
You then have another look at the decoration and realize how different it is from actual Japanese examples when you start examining it closer. All the little details including figure’s face, flowers and diaper background are not consistent with Japanese style. It does appear that this is an attempt to copy Kutani porcelain by someone who was not used to paint this type of decoration. Our first thought was that it might be a porcelain blank that was later decorated in Europe but looking at other examples shown below makes us believe that this was decorated in Canton, China.
This was our second find – a Chinese dish of almost identical form and size, but this time decorated in aka-e Kutani pattern commonly referred to as ‘thousand scholars’. Notice the central medallion with a very typical Chinese bird-and-flower motif. Once again, when you start looking at the details, you will see stylistic differences in the way figures are painted (more on this below). This example doesn’t have any mark on the back so you could argue that rather than being a copy of Japanese Kutani porcelain, it is just a Chinese interpretation of the same pattern.
Two dishes side by side.
Porcelain bodies are of similar size and form with some difference in the colour of the paste.
Even though this second dish isn’t marked, we’ve managed to find another – almost identical – example online with this unusual iron red mark that reads 阜隆 (Fulong).
And another example of the ‘hundred scholars’ pattern on Chinese porcelain, this time on 19th century Canton export vases with characteristic applied chimeras and foo lion handles. Height 25.5 cm. Just like the two dishes above, these were listed as Japanese. In fact, porcelain in this pattern is almost always listed by dealers and auction houses as Japanese. We’ve managed to find only two example identified correctly – the first one by Guinevere Antiques listed as ‘Chinese 1000 Scholars Rouge de Fer Vases’ (dated c. 1880) and the second in Bob & Freek Collection listed as ‘Beautiful 19th c Cantonese porcelain plate with a scene of hundred face’ (dated Guangxu, 1875-1908).
Green enamel residue at the base of one of the vases (right) is very typical of enamels found on 19th century Canton Famille Rose porcelain decorated in Rose Mandarin or Rose Medallion style (left). This would suggest that these ‘rouge de fer’ examples were made by the same studios that produced more typical export pieces.
Miniature examples with applied gilt chimeras. These would originally come with domed lids featuring gilt foo lion finials. Each measures approx. 12.5 cm / 5 inches tall.
Comparison of figures on Chinese and Japanese porcelain. Eyes on Chinese examples are dots, compared to dashes on Japanese ones. Outlines are done in iron red on Chinese examples and in black on Japanese. There is also difference in hairstyles between the two.
And one more dish in the same pattern – this one measures 23.8 cm in diameter, is more thickly potted and has a different type of foot. It again features a bird-and-flower medallion in the middle and two concentric iron red and gilt borders with ‘hundred sholars’ motif between them.
Detail of the foot with traces of kiln grit (click to enlarge).

So, what are your thoughts on this topic? Do you have similar pieces in your collection? Are you aware of any literature mentioning these? We would love to hear from you and learn more! Feel free to contact us at [email protected]

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