Antique Chinese & Japanese PorcelainEuropean Ceramics & Works of Art
Chinese famille verte bowl /tureen base of uncertain date the ovoid lobed shape body tapering to a slightly splayed foot, two opposing lingzhi white handles, the central panel with a bonsai tree, the rim painted in iron-red with a horn filled with flowers with adjacent smaller panels of floral sprays. This puzzle piece was catalogued by John Axford as being a Kangxi famille verte bowl. One error is that it is not a bowl but a tureen base. His dating of Kangxi is controversial. However, in my opinion this piece is not Kangxi for the following reasons. • It is extremely rare to find unique shapes in Kangxi famille verte export porcelain. • There are no examples in the many museums and books that I have looked where there is similar tureen base dating to the Kangxi period. • The lingzhi type handles are not in keeping with a Kangxi export piece of porcelain • Although the detail of the painting is good it has an uncharacteristic stiffness. • The enamels are pristine and slightly too hard looking. • Most importantly the glaze on the inside of a Qing tureen stops short of the rim My opinion that this tureen base is not Kangxi is shared by my sister Anita Gray and fellow veteran enthusiasts of antique Chinese porcelain namely Colin, Richard, and Douglas, who have not yet given me their permission to publish their full names. Collectively, these experts including myself have an experience of handling antique Chinese porcelain of well over two hundred and fifty years. This is not to say we cannot be wrong. It was subsequently offered by a London auction room as being Kangxi In circumstance I would welcome well-informed comments
Guest & Gray 58 Davies StreetLondonW1K 5LP
