antique appraisals | The specialists guide to Chinese antiques

Retired chocolate factory worker discovers his blue and white vase is a rare 600 year old Ming dynasty moon flask worth millions!

Just a super quick update post since the folks at Chine Gallery in Hong Kong have been keeping me quite busy these days. Though with lots of cool things there to look into like this 18th century cinnabar lacquer box from Beijing can you blame me?

cinnabar lacquer box 226x300 Retired chocolate factory worker discovers his blue and white vase is a rare 600 year old Ming dynasty moon flask worth millions!

On to the latest “record price” headline, this one picked up from the BBC. Whats amazing is the guy walked in with the vase stuffed inside a cardboard box!!!

Cardboard box Chinese Ming vase ‘may fetch £1m

A blue and white Chinese Ming Dynasty vase that arrived at a Dorset auction house in a cardboard box is expected to sell for more than 1 million.

The 11.5in (29cm) vase is the largest ever recorded from a rare group of early Ming “moonflasks” from 1403-1424, Duke and Son auction house said.

The Dorchester-based firm said it was believed to be one of the most exciting works of art to come to light in years.

The seller, a retired Cadbury’s worker aged 79, does not wish to be named.

‘Spectacular find’

A Duke’s spokesperson said the man “lives modestly and has been interested in antiques for many years”.

blue and white ming moonflask vase Retired chocolate factory worker discovers his blue and white vase is a rare 600 year old Ming dynasty moon flask worth millions!

Guy Schwinge, of Duke’s, said: “When my colleague initially showed me what had arrived in a cardboard box I could not believe my eyes.

“The vase is in perfect condition and it is amazing to think that it has survived unscathed for almost 600 years”.

Duke’s consultant for Chinese Works of Art is Anthony du Boulay, a scholar and author, who said the vase was “a spectacular find”.

The vase will be sold at auction in May.

Original BBC story:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-12355404

The 47,000 USD dollar tooth brush holder – Chinese porcelain brush pot in owners bathroom sells at auction for staggering sum.

Here’s a great tidbit from the Dailyrecord: China pot which owner used as toothbrush holder sells for £30k at auction. Quick – everyone run into their bathrooms right now to see what you got in there! I have a pristine tube of Crest toothpaste which I have been holding onto for years – definitely going to have it appraised!

An antique Chinese pot sold at auction for £30,000 (47,000 USD) was used for years by its owner as a toothbrush holder! Gordon Murray didn’t think the ceramic writing brush holder was worth much and reckoned he’d be lucky to get £400 for it. So he was left stunned when it fetched the princely sum at auction in Edinburgh.

Gordon, who runs Atholl Antiques in Aberdeen, cleaned up the pot for it to go under the hammer at Lyon and Turnbull on Wednesday. He said he began collecting antiques as a boy in Aberdeen in the 50s and his passion continued to grow.

He said: “On Saturdays I’d head off into the antique shops in town, including Young’s in Belmont Street and Alec “Cocky” Hunter’s in Castlegate, where I would buy what my meagre pocket money could afford.”

One thing for sure is there are definitely hidden gems out there waiting to be found! Here’s another one from the Dailymail from about the same time: Antique Chinese bowl valued at just £600 by auctioneers fetches £38,000… after bidding war breaks out among buyers.

Kanxi blue and white porcelain bowl 150x150 The 47,000 USD dollar tooth brush holder Chinese porcelain brush pot in owners bathroom sells at auction for staggering sum.

Have you got one of these in your attic?

This antique Chinese bowl, which had a guide price £600, sold for more than £38,000 (60,000 USD) at auction yesterday.

The blue and white porcelain pot, which is believed to be a 19th century copy of one made in the Kangxi dynasty of 1662 to 1722, was bought by a Chinese man who lives in Britain.

Unassuming lot 379, which is eight inches wide and depicts a man ploughing a paddy field with water buffalo, attracted a surge of interest from its homeland after the auction catalogue was put on the internet.

Auctioneer Steven Moore, of Anderson & Garland, Newcastle, said: ‘I wasn’t surprised by the price, as I knew the amount of interest it had generated.

‘Chinese people are trying to find and collect their heritage.

A Chinese man living in the UK bid the highest price at this week’s auction.

Mr Moore added: ‘There is the possibilty that people have these things or things similar to this sat in their house and it is very possible that they are also worth this amount of money.

‘This is definitely the best time to sell Chinese porcelain.’

Woman finds out her father’s jade collection is worth over a million USD.

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 was a liaison of some sort. He was just a Kentucky farm boy, but he learned Chinese and he met a Mr. Liang at number ten Jade Street, and that’s pretty much what I remember him always telling me. Mr. Liang would call him and say, “John, I have some pieces you might want to look at.” As children, we heard that some of them had imperial seals, and then I just always have been curious.

APPRAISER: Well, that Mr. Liang must have been a very, very good friend of your father’s, because he led him down the path of great collecting. Generally you see people who purchase things in China at that period of time, and they purchased things that were very, very poor quality. These things are all of very, very fine quality. Did you have any idea about the value on these things?

GUEST: This dragon bowl, as we’ve always called it, we’ve always heard that it may be worth a lot of money, but no, I don’t know the value.

APPRAISER: You start with, basically, the runt of the litter in terms of these groups is that bowl there. And that’s a bowl that’s based on a style from India that they refer to as Mogul style. And it’s Chinese, 18th century. Very, very thin carving, really beautiful, crisp workmanship. This one here is the same style, but only a little more ornate. This is also Mogul style, also 18th century.

GUEST: So 1700s.

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Chinese vase valued at €150 sells for €110,000 at auction

“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 for ceramics at an Irish antiques sale – plan to sell the remainder of an inherited collection of oriental porcelain.

While the Co Carlow family wish to retain strict anonymity, the auctioneers acting on their behalf said they were unaware of the vase’s historical significance and its value when it was consigned for sale. The family did not attend the auction and missed seeing the vase sell for 1,000 times its estimated value.

Durrow-based auctioneers Sheppards said the owners were “shocked but also delighted and chuffed” by the sale. They were also coming to terms with the potential value and importance of the remaining items in the collection.

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Chinese reverse glass paintings

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 in their home. The one below is the one appraised in the show.

APPRAISER: “When you look at these, you’ll notice that there’s not that much attention to detail. The face is very white. Probably all made up with powder. Generally they wear very elaborate hair dress and earrings, and you can see the elaborate earrings. She’s holding a fan– that’s not unusual– and seated in an old chair. The details of the new ones are not that different from this. That’s why I have to point out to people, when you see one of these, you can only assume it’s new. Before you buy it, have a specialist look at it, because the new ones are quite deceiving. This has all the earmarks of an old one. One thing that’s interesting is you can see her arms through the dress. ”

APPRAISER: “Very unusual to find pairs. Could go for as much as $5,000.”

GUEST: “Wonderful. ”

APPRAISER: “This by itself is worth $1,500 to $2,000. “

GUEST: “Wow. That’s amazing. ”

To watch online:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/archive/200702A16.html

thermoluminescence testing for porcelain, ceramics and bronzes

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 small sample of ancient pottery will emit a faint blue light when heated to a sufficiently high temperature. This faint blue light is known as thermoluminescence, or TL and is over and above the background red glow that is emitted from all materials. The TL can be measured using a sensitive detector known as a photomultiplier tube. The intensity of the TL signal is proportional to the time which has elapsed since the clay was last heated, normally since the kiln firing, and can be used to date when the object was last fired.

Sampling

Photo: Pottery
Only a fully qualified representative of Oxford Authentication Ltd is authorised to take a sample of powder. 100mg of powder is removed from an inconspicuous area of the object. Usually more than one sample is taken from each piece to verify that all the parts are of the same antiquity. Each piece is fully documented and photographed at the time of sampling, and the samples are sent to our laboratory in Oxfordshire for analysis.
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