Oriental Works of Art
Japanese Fukagawa Imari Vase of Sake Bottle Form circa 1880
Price: £180
A fine quality Japanese Imari Vase of Sake bottle form with a bulbous body narrowing towards a broad neck with a faintly everted rim, decorated in iron red, underglaze blue and gold with the addition of green enamel. The main body with two shaped panels of flowering chrysanthemum within underglaze blue borders on a ground of stylised flowering chrysanthemum, the shoulder with panels of lotus and stylised flower heads on an underglaze blue band, the neck with further stylised foliage below plantain leaves in iron red and underglaze blue, the rim gilt. The base with a four character mark reading Koransha Fukagawa Sei ('made by the Koransha Fukagawa [factory]'. The Fukagawa kilns produced the best quality Imari items made in Japan in the late nineteenth century for export to the West. Dating here is within the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) probably around 1880. The form is unusual and reflects Sake bottle shapes produced in a variety of mediums.
Japanese Bamboo Carved Walking Stick, signed, circa 1900
Price: £150
A Japanese bamboo walking stick with a gnarled root to the top, the stained dark brown surface deeply carved to reveal the light brown interior and with a design of monkeys and a snake with foliage, an incised signature at the bottom incorporating two characters and a stylised seal mark, late nineteenth century.
Chinese Red Lacquer Box and Cover circa 1880
Price: £150
A Chinese Lacquer Box and Cover, the base and lid decorated with a design of massed peony and chrysanthemum heads in red lacquer and the lid inset with an irregularly shaped plaque depicting a garden scene with peony, butterflies and rocks within a diaper design border all in polychrome lacquers. The interior with a contemporary paper lining. Style and technique suggest a circa date to the end of the nineteenth century.
Chinese Rice Grain Plate decorated in underglaze blue, iron red and gold, circa 1900
Price: £45
Chinese Plate of typical form with a straight flaring edge, decorated in underglaze blue with a central panel of chrysanthemum within a border of bats and a repeating geometric design, the edge with a band of diaper design and between a border of stylised scrolling floral blooms in iron red and gold with turquoise enamel highlighting. The reverse with concentric circles in underglaze blue and a 'shop mark' to the centre, the rim of the plate also with 'rice grain' decoration where the porcelain is pierced and the glaze allowed to cover the openings made. Paste and style of decoration suggest a circa date towards the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912) probably circa 1900.
Small Chinese Bronze Vase of Ku Form with Elephant Head Handles, Qing Dynasty circa 1800
Price: £75
Chinese Bronze Vase of Ku Form with typical spreading foot, bulbous body and wide flaring neck and rim, set at the side with a pair of elephant head handles. The base decorated with a circling dragon, the body with two panels of peony, rocks and butterflies, the neck with repeating stylised plantain leaves with stylised floral decoration in an 'archaistic' style and the top rim with a band of repeating geometric designs. Note in particular the detail of the casting of the elephant heads and the dragon's head. This, combined with the quality of the bronze which has excellent weight and patina, suggests a circa date at least towards the middle of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) if not perhaps before. The piece was probably conceived as part of a miniature altar set and was possibly intended as an incense burner.
Unusual Chinese Bowl decorated in the Japanese Kutani Style, early 20th Century
Price: £45
This is an unusual Chinese Bowl decorated in the Japanese Kutani Style. The form resembles a flower head with petals and the exterior is highlighted with narrow moulded ribbing. The inside and out are decorated with a wide variety of densely packed floral blooms including peony, lotus and chrysanthemum, the pattern closely resembling the well known 'millefiore' or 'mille fleur' designs painted in Famille Rose enamels which were produced in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But the colours used here are iron red and gold with the addition of grisaille highlights which is typical of the palette used in Japanese Kutani wares. The Chinese did sometimes copy or adapt these wares and vases with the 'hundred sage' pattern copying the Japanese are well known. Even the form here is more Japanese than Chinese in style so the aim was clearly to make the adaptation as close as possible. The paste of the foot rim and the nature of the gilding suggest a circa date in the early 20th Century, perhaps around 1920.
4 Chinese Imperial Jindezhen Porcelain Decorative Plates 1985-87
Price: £100
This is a partial set of four plates from Imperial Jindezhen Porcelain. The series is entitled "Beauties of the Red Mansion" by master artisan Zhao Huimin. These plates depict Chinese stories with ornate interiors and female characters. These are dated 1985 1986 (2) and 1987.
A Persian Gouache Painting on Silk depicting Seven Polo players seated on elephants Nineteenth Century in a modern frame
Price: £35
A Persian Gouache Painting on Silk depicting Seven Polo players seated on elephants in a landscape scene with grass and hills to the distance, the scene amusingly painted with a colourful palette of colours and detailed brushwork suggesting a date in the Nineteenth Century, the frame and mounting modern.
A Japanese Kutani Bowl together with Four Japanese Kutani Coffee Cans circa 1900
Price: £50
A Japanese Kutani bowl with an elaborate shaped edge, deeply scalloped and with six indented flanges, decorated with sages in a landscape with a lake, pine trees and bamboo, the exterior with stylised floral sprays in iron red, the base unmarked. The palette of colours and style of decoration are typical of the productions from the kilns at Kutani in the late nineteenth century and a circa date in the late Meiji period (1868 - 1912) is most likely. The four Coffee cans of typical upright form and decorated in a similar palette of colours but with a three character mark reading ‘Ku’ ‘Tani’ ‘Sei’ (made at Kutani) to the base, the design combining a massed group of sages reading scrolls, the ‘hundred sage’ pattern known in both Chinese and Japanese pieces, and two panels of landscape and flowers to the reverse.
Very unusual group of 8 Chinese nut/fruit stone carvings mounted as pendants
Price: £40
This is a wonderful group of 8 sage head pendants carved from a nut or fruit stone. They are all heads of sages who are smiling. They are mounted as pendants with one of the pins missing but this is easy to replace.
Chinese Celadon glaze Bowl of Conical Form, 20th Century
Price: £30
Celadon Celadon Glaze Bowl of conical form with straight flaring sides above a small moulded foot, the base glazed in light cream within the unglazed foot rim, both glazes with a light crackle effect. Conical form bowls of similar designs were a classic Chinese shape and found in a variety of different wares. Glaze and form here reflect pieces from the Song period (960 to 1279) but the dating is to the early to mid twentieth century.
Chinese Cloisonne Small Tray decorated with Flowers and Rocks, 19th Century
Price: £150
A Chinese Cloisonne small Tray decorated with a stylised garden scene of flowering peony and rocks with a seated bird on a deep red ground, the border with stylised prunus heads which are repeated on the exterior, the base finished in blue enamel, gilt rims to the base, sides and top. The form is unusual for Chinese Cloisonne pieces and may have been intended as part of a scholars desk set, perhaps as a brush or pen holder. The weight and quality of decoration suggest a circa date in the first half of the nineteenth century.
Pair of Chinese Cantonese Famille Rose Plates decorated in a mille fleur design, 19th Century
Price: £75
A Pair of unusual Chinese Famille Rose small plates decorated in Famille Rose enamels with overlapping chrysanthemum heads on a gilt ground in a version of the well known 'mille fleur' pattern, the designs slightly differing on each dish, the reverse with a celadon ground and a stylised seal mark in underglaze blue to the foot. Thickly potted celadon ground dishes decorated with birds and flowers were produced quite frequently during the mid nineteenth century and usually formed part of a tea service. The variation on this decoration here is unusual and highly decorative.
Chinese Glass Snuff Bottle with interior enamel painted decoration, signed, 20th Century
Price: £15
Chinese Glass Snuff Bottle of flattened double gourd form, the grey smoky glass with a smooth flat base and a short straight neck, the rounded stopper with a swirling design of orange on a pale grey ground, the interior finely painted with a court lady feeding a bird on a terrace with flowers, the reverse with flowering lotus, both images with a signature. The work is clearly of high quality but the dating is probably to the 20th Century.
Chinese Sancai Glaze Model of a Horse in the Tang Dynasty Style, 20th Century
Price: £40
A Chinese Sancai Glaze Model of a Horse in the Tang Dynasty Style, 20th Century modelled in typical style with the horse standing erect and gazing forwards, its tail slightly raised, and decorated with the sancai (three colour) glazes which were popular during the period. These brilliantly colored lead glazes in shades of green, amber, and white were widely used in funerary goods in the late seventh and the first half of the eighth century and 'Tang Horses', as they are known, (the Tang Dynasty dating from 618 to 907) are one of the staples of early Chinese ceramics. This example is modern but the modelling and glazing can stand comparison with its earlier predecessors, with a much more modest purchase price for the buyer! The base is unglazed with a recessed rectangular centre within which is an impressed mark.
Japanese Imari Vase of Water Dropper Form, Meiji Period, circa 1900
Price: £20
A Japanese Imari Vase with an ovoid body and a slender neck, probably intended as a water dropper and decorated in the typical Imari palette of underglaze blue, iron red and gold with a boldly painted design of stylised flowers and two panels also with stylised flowers, the neck with a band of repeating plantain leaves. Paste of the foot and style of decoration suggest a circa date towards the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912).
Chinese Cloisonné Bowl with a wavy edge, 20th Century
Price: £40
A Chinese Cloisonné Bowl of shallow form with a short gilt metal foot and a wavy edge rim also finished in gilt metal, decorated with peony and rocks and a flying bird in bold polychrome enamels with shading effects on a black ground with a gilt wire design of repeating small stylised clouds, the base finished in blue enamel. The style of decoration suggests a circa date in the first half of the twentieth century.
Balinese Portrait Bust of a Male Head, early C20th
Price: £30
Balinese hardwood Portrait Bust depicting the head a young man wearing traditional headdress. Figures of this type were made in Indonesia on the island of Bali and are sometimes found in pairs of a man and a lady, giving rise to the suggestion that they were wedding sculptures. Dating is usually ascribed to the early 1900s and this piece would then reflect the interest in ethnic art which was quite widespread at that time.
Graduated set of Three Chinese Blue and White Ginger Jars and Covers, 20th Century
Price: £20
A set of three Chinese Blue and White Miniature Ginger Jars and Covers of graduated sizes and typical form with globular bodies and domed covers, decorated in the 'Ming Style' in underglaze blue with lotus heads and stylised scrolling foliage, a band of lotus form panels to the base and ju'i form lappets to the neck, the design repeated on the cover.
Although 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.
Chinese Soapstone Brushwasher decorated with flowering Lotus, early 20th Century
Price: £45
A Chinese Soapstone Brushwasher, carved in high relief with two vase like vessels and a shallow bowl all surrounded by flowering lotus and set on a ground of stylised rockwork, the back flat carved and the base hollowed out at the interior. Various similar pieces can be found with one or more vases surrounded by flowers or sometimes animals and presumably intended as brushwashers. Soapstone was first used by the Chinese over three thousand years ago but began its popularity in the Ming dynasty (1368 -1644) with the height of production during the ensuing Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911) when a stone mined in the Shoushan village in northern Fujian was most commonly used. Shoushan soapstone is noted for its smooth texture, bright colours and fine grain and a wide variety of objects were carved from it. Production continued into the 20th Century which is what we have here but the quality of the work, with sparing use of the drill, suggests a dating in the early 1900s.
Three Chinese Canton Enamel Dishes, Nineteenth Century
Price: £45
Three Chinese Canton Enamel Dishes, all with very similar designs with a central lotus flower in famille rose enamels on a coloured enamel ground (green, turquoise and pink respectively) with lotus flowers and stylised scrolling foliage, the edges with repeating ju'i form lappets, the rims bound in copper and a copper foot to the base, the undersides in off white enamel. The style of decoration suggests a nineteenth rather than eighteenth century date of manufacture (compare the dish in the following lot 7) but the quality is good and while not a set as such the three pieces complement one another well.
A Matched Pair of Chinese Cloisonne Bottle form Vases circa 1900
Price: £15
A matched Pair of Chinese Cloisonne Vases of squat bottle form with broad bodies and a slender flaring neck, decorated with flowering peony on a blue enamel ground with a gilt wire design of stylised clouds, the bases with two bands of overlapping semi circles and the tops with a band of repeating ju'i lappets, the top interior rims finished in metal and the bases with a gilt foot rim enclosing blue enamel. The designs on these vases match very closely and the peony flowers are in mirror image but the vases are unlikely to have been an original pair. Weight and style of decoration suggest a circa date at the end of the nineteenth century.
Japanese Fukagawa Imari Bowl, signed, circa 1880
Price: £380
A Japanese Imari Bowl of shallow lobed form, richly decorated in the Imari palette of underglaze blue, iron red and gold, the interior with a central circular panel with a vase containing peony and chrysanthemum within a blue ground border with gilt diaper work and small stylised floral panels and the sides with alternating shaped edge circular and oval panels filled with flowers and ho ho birds on a stylised floral red enamel and gilt ground, the exterior with circular floral panels in two sizes on a ground of stylised foliage, the base with a four character mark reading 'koransha' 'fuka' 'gawa' 'sei' ('Made by the koransha Fukagawa [factory]'.
The 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.
A Pair of Japanese Lacquered Porcelain Ginger Jars and Covers, late nineteenth century
Price: £240
A pair of Japanese porcelain ginger jars of typical form with globular bodies, a short neck and a domed cover, the ceramic bodies decorated with brown lacquer in imitation of bronze and painted with complementary landscape scenes in gold, iron red and light brown depicting lakeside scenes with pavilions, boats, rocks and trees, the covers plain and with a band of stylised repeating flower heads at the bottom. The interiors of the jars and covers with a glossy black lacquer glaze.There are various forms of lacquer decorated porcelains produced by the Japanese in the late nineteenth century. Large pairs of vases where polychrome lacquer was applied to an underglaze blue and white body were a familiar occupant of the English Country House. These pieces are more domestic in scale but highly decorative nonetheless and rather less often found than their larger counterparts. Dating here would be within the Meiji period (1868-1912) probably around 1880.
A Chinese Crackleware Famille Verte Ginger Jar decorated with Warriors circa 1880
Price: £45
A Chinese Crackle glaze Ginger Jar of typical rounded ovoid form with a short neck decorated in principally 'Famille Verte' enamels with a continuous scene of warriors, some on horseback, the shoulder and base with incised matt brown glaze bands intended to imitate bronze, the base with an apocryphal four character mark within a brown glaze square. Paste of the foot and style of decoration suggest a circa date in the late nineteenth century.
'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.
A Chinese Cloisonne Box and Cover circa 1900
Price: £75
A Chinese Cloisonne Box of rectangular form with a hinged lid, decorated with in multicoloured enamels with scrolling peony on a blue ground, the rim of the lid with stylised peony flower heads, the interior and the underneath finished in green enamel and the base with a red enamel mark 'CHINA'. Cloisonne wares, in which coloured glass enamels are placed within soldered wire designs (the 'cloisons' or partitions) were produced in China from at least the fifteenth century onwards through until the late nineteenth century and beyond; indeed decent quality Chinese cloisonne items are still produced today. The quality and style of decoration here with an artistic design and shading effects to some of the enamel work suggest a circa date of around 1900 and this is confirmed by the 'CHINA' mark which is usually held to have been used from around 1890 to 1920 when it was more normally replaced by 'Made in China'. Doubtless intended for trinkets or jewellery this piece is both functional and decorative.
Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting tigers, Modern
Price: £40
A Chinese Glass globe with thick walls, hollow inside and with a round opening at the base, reverse painted in great detail with three tigers in a landscape setting with bamboo, the base with an inscription 'Dick and Sadie'. Reverse painting is a technique often used by the Chinese for the decoration of snuff bottles where the brush is inserted through the opening at the top and the decoration applied. Here the decorative technique has been used on a rather larger object but with no diminution in the skill of the craftsman indeed the much larger 'canvas' must have proved quite demanding. By repute the decorators require at least one day to create a single example. Heavy and of extremely high quality glass, these pieces, of which various examples are known (there is another one as the following lot to this) may have been intended as paperweights or more likely simply as decorative objects. Some are found with modern wood stands. This piece is sold with a contemporary illuminated stand which, when lit, serves to enhance the decorative effect (see image 8).
Chinese Reverse Painted Glass Globe depicting deities and attendants, Modern
Price: £40
A Chinese Glass globe with thick walls, hollow inside and with a round opening at the base, reverse painted in great detail with deities and attendants amidst clouds, an eight character inscription to the side with a small red seal mark. Reverse painting is a technique often used by the Chinese for the decoration of snuff bottles where the brush is inserted through the opening at the top and the decoration applied. Here the decorative technique has been used on a rather larger object but with no diminution in the skill of the craftsman indeed the much larger 'canvas' must have proved quite demanding. By repute the decorators require at least one day to create a single example. Heavy, but a little lighter than the previous lot (41), and of extremely high quality glass, these pieces, of which various examples are known (there is another one as the previous lot to this) may have been intended as paperweights or more likely simply as decorative objects. Some are found with modern wood stands. This piece is sold with a contemporary illuminated stand which, when lit, serves to enhance the decorative effect (see image 6).