Carved Chinese brown jade necklace
Price: £50Chinese Cloisonne Small Tray decorated with Flowers and Rocks, 19th Century
Price: £150Pair of Chinese Cantonese Famille Rose Plates decorated in a mille fleur design, 19th Century
Price: £75Balinese Portrait Bust of a Male Head, early C20th
Price: £30Chinese Silver Bangle with Dragon Heads, C20th
Price: £30Japanese Imari Vase of Water Dropper Form, Meiji Period, circa 1900
Price: £20Japanese Arita Jardiniere decorated with flowers and two tassels, Meiji period, circa 1900
Price: £350Chinese Cloisonné Bowl with a wavy edge, 20th Century
Price: £40Art Deco Chinese Export silver Buckle later converted to a Necklace
Price: £100Chinese cloisonne bangle with raised enamel decoration circa 1900
Price: £40Chinese Sancai Glaze Model of a Horse in the Tang Dynasty Style, 20th Century
Price: £40The Braves and the Fair Men of Letters and Women of Fame of Old China circa 1900
Price: £75Each of the ten characters are described in a double page spread, the right hand containing texts in both Chinese and English and the left hand with hand coloured illustrations on silk , delicately rendered. The book 'works' from right to left and the reverses of the pages are left blank. At each end are fabric covered boards, the front board with a pasted paper inscription in Chinese with a small red seal mark. Other examples are finished with boards in wood, but these are, perhaps, not original or a more deluxe version of the volume.
The illustrations are in excellent condition with the colours still bright. The yellow finish to the paper is original and perhaps intended to give an 'antique' effect. Each of the end boards are very slightly scuffed at the borders. The pages, including the title page and the two end papers, suffer from varying degrees of 'worm hole' perforation. There are also various tears. A selection of illustrations can be seen above and further images (and a more detailed condition report) are, of course, available on request. But these condition issues should not necessarily detract from the charm of the item which is an Englishman's attempt to capture some of the folk lore of China, a land which attracted such popular interest during the Victorian period.
Graduated set of Three Chinese Blue and White Ginger Jars and Covers, 20th Century
Price: £20Although of relatively recent manufacture, the quality of these pieces continues the Chinese ceramic productions of the late nineteenth century and together they form an attractive decorative ensemble for the contemporary interior.
Three Chinese Canton Enamel Dishes, Nineteenth Century
Price: £45A Matched Pair of Chinese Cloisonne Bottle form Vases circa 1900
Price: £15Two Bronze Pre Colombian style Figurine Pendants
Price: £25'Pre-Columbian' art is a broad category that encompasses the art of the indigenous peoples of North, Central, and South America and the Caribbean prior to the arrival of the Spanish at the beginning of the 16th century. The figure sculptures, made in a wide variety of media, are highly stylised and many contain some of the features seen here, although an exact parallel is hard to find. These two figures are cast in good quality bronze and were presumably intended as souvenirs of some kind. While not contemporary, the dating of these pieces is difficult and they must be assessed on their decorative appeal.
Chinese Celadon glaze Bowl of Conical Form, 20th Century
Price: £30Chinese Silk Embroidered Textile depicting Sages and Boys in a Garden Scene, framed, Twentieth Century
Price: £50The panel is framed by a broad band of dark beige coloured fabric with a repeating diaper design, typical of early twentieth century work. The stitching is bold rather than subtle which again conforms to the period, but the overall effect is both amusing and decorative. The European frame may well be contemporary.
Chinese Pale Celadon Jade Bangle, probably Nineteenth Century
Price: £45Jade is usually divided into two types, nephrite jade and jadeite jade. The latter is heavier and slightly harder, making it more difficult to scratch. The weight of this piece suggests that we do have jadeite here. The stone was selected for carving on the basis of its attractive appearance and the finish, which bears no trace of machine tooled manufacture, suggests a pre twentieth century dating, but certainty in these matters is notoriously difficult
The size of this piece is unusually large, suggesting that it would have been intended for a male wearer. This too suggests an earlier rather than later time of manufacture. The stone is exceptionally pleasant to the hand and would have been an elegant accompaniment to any wardrobe.
Chinese Bone Inkwell in the form of a Chair, early 20th century
Price: £20Brass and Enamel Campaign Serving Set, Made in British India mark, 1920s
Price: £45Chinese Soapstone Brushwasher decorated with flowering Lotus, early 20th Century
Price: £45Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting deities and attendants, Modern
Price: £40Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting tigers, Modern
Price: £40A Pair of Japanese Lacquered Porcelain Ginger Jars and Covers, late nineteenth century
Price: £240A Chinese Cloisonne Box and Cover circa 1900
Price: £75A Chinese Crackleware Famille Verte Ginger Jar decorated with Warriors circa 1880
Price: £45'Crackleware' glazed pieces, usually with 'bronzed bands, were a staple output of the Chinese potteries from the mid nineteenth century onwards and were produced in a wide variety of mainly vase shape forms, both in polychrome and blue and white and intended as decorative pieces for the Victorian rooms of the West. As with other ceramic types, the quality deteriorated and this piece is typical of late nineteenth century productions of a more modest level of craftsmanship but still retaining a naif charm. As with many ginger jars, this one lacks its original domed cover which would have been decorated to match.
Japanese Fukagawa Imari Bowl, signed, circa 1880
Price: £380The Fukagawa kilns produced the best quality Imari items made in Japan in the late nineteenth century for export to the West. Their history starts with Ezaiemon Fukagawa who in 1856 became head of his family's porcelain business and in 1875 founded Koransha (The Company of the Scented Orchid) in Arita, Japan, to produce tableware for export. In 1894 the modern Fukagawa company was founded by Chuji Fukagawa, with the Fukagawa trade mark of Mount Fuji and a stream, as its trade mark. Dating here is within the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) probably around 1880. This conforms with the script mark used as opposed to the later symbol design.