The specialists guide to Chinese antiques.

Without saying if I agree or disagree, here are two interesting articles which I picked up off the Museum Security Network website (though one was originally from Bloomberg) regarding last years controversial auction of  a bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit looted from  Beijing’s Summer Palace  in 1860 .  Interesting perspectives – [...]

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These days there is a TON of news articles about the art market and China’s insatiable demand for Chinese artworks and antiques. Did I mention there was a ton of these articles recently? Regardless, this is one of the more interesting ones…
June 26 (Bloomberg) — Few people gave Zhao Xin a second look when he [...]

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Interesting article on the FT website. You are not supposed to reprint their articles in full so, here is a few of the more relevant clippings from the article:
Sotheby’s is suing two mainland Chinese buyers for HK$2.1m ($270,000) in Hong Kong after they allegedly failed to pay for five Chinese paintings and an antique incense burner [...]

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18th-Century Qianlong Jade Collection from Qing Dynasty
Appraised Value:
$710,000 – $1,070,000
Watch the appraisal video here on the Antiques Roadshow website. Or even better, watch this interview with the owner in North Carolina.

GUEST: My father was in China two different times– I think in the late ’30s and sometime during the ’40s, with the Army, and he [...]

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“I have a lot of people approach me with inquires about selling porcelain collections they have either inherited or amassed over the years. I am guessing this might be one of the reasons why:”

THE OWNERS of a Chinese imperial vase which sold for €110,000 at a Co Laois auction on Tuesday – a record-breaking price [...]

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The Chinese have always prized hardwoods for their dense grain, durability and rich color. But with Beijing being located in the north of China, one must wonder where all those tropical hardwoods being made into classical Chinese furniture today come from? Well, in most cases the answer is the Dong Ba Timber Market or “Dōngbà  [...]

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This enormous solid wood console (over two meters) which probably dates back to the Ming Dynasty, originally made its home in a temple in Shanxi province before being stumbled upon by us in the far off, dusty dirty corners of the antiques trade. Known in Chinese as a “Gong An,” or roughly a”temple table” the [...]

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Li Songtang at his museum in Beijing, where he displays relics saved from demolition sites in the rapidly modernizing city.

Doug Kanter for The New York Times
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This past weekend, ACF China and  The Hutong organized a field trip for local expats here in Beijing to visit an genuine outdoor wholesale antique market, where peasants from the countryside bring un-restored antique furniture and other curios to sell to wholesalers, collectors and restorers. The trip proved a success, allowing attendees a fascinating peek [...]

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ACF China and the The Hutong will be co-organizing a field trip this Saturday morning to visit a outdoor wholesale market where peasants from the countryside bring antique furniture to sell to wholesalers, specialists and restorers. This is an extremely rare opportunity to see where antique furniture comes from and what it looks like in [...]

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Original article published in City Weekend Magazine March 16th, 2009

By Thomas Talhelm
Fully Furnished
Of all the different types of antiques, furniture has one of the quickest learning curves in the art of spotting fakes, making it a great choice for beginners. Buying furniture also entails less risk, since pieces can still make great additions to the [...]

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Over the years, having spent a fair amount of time in and out of Hong Kong, it suddenly dawned on me that (up until now), this famous Hong Kong antiques street in Central, has yet to be mentioned here. Adding insult to injury, is that fact that for many years, upon my arrival in Hong [...]

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The Antiques Roadshow on PBS, has some great Chinese antique-relevant episodes, particularly this one on Chinese reverse glass paintings. Even cooler is the fact you can watch these episodes online!  The Chinese reverse painted glass mirror pictured above was recently sitting in our shop before it was purchased by someone who is now enjoying it [...]

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Another super quick post but a link worth including here: http://www.oxfordauthentication.com/
One thing to be aware of is that thermoluminescence testing works only with fired items, in other words items like porcelain, earthenware or bronze. If you don’t know what thermoluminescence testing is have a quick read of the snippet below from their website:

Thermoluminescence
A [...]

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(This is a section from a previous post which I think is worth separating out here, since I am asked this question quite a lot).
Where can I find more detailed information on Chinese porcelain, pottery and ceramics?
Chinese porcelain, Oriental ceramics and Japanese porcelain and pottery are all unique entire subjects of their own [...]

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