Recent Acquisitions
On this page you'll find my latest acquisitions, It may, however, take some time for all objects to load.
This way you can quickly browse through my recently acquired objects without having to browse through all the various categories.
After four weeks each object in 'Recent Acquisitions' will be moved to their specific category.
Latest update; April 4, 2019.
Encre de Chine 1725-1775
Object 2011375
Cup and saucer
China
1750-1770
Height of cup 63 mm (2,48 inch), diameter of rim 56 mm (2.20 inch), diameter of footring 30 mm (1.18 inch), weight 76 grams (2.68 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 23 mm (0.91 inch), diameter of rim 121 mm (4.76 inch), diameter of footring 75 mm (2.92 inch), weight 68 grams (2.40 ounce (oz.))
Cup and saucer on footrings, the saucer with a slightly flaring rim, the tall cup with handle. Decorated in encre de Chine, brown and gold with a lady is seated on rockwork under a pine tree conversing with another lady and child. Round the rims decorative borders in the style of Viennese Du Pacquier porcelain with floral scrolls alternating with shells.
The use of black enamel in imitation of drawings or prints was first developed at the end of the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722) and the Yongzheng reign (1723-1730). Chinese porcelains decorated in ink colour became popular in Europe around 1740, and until about 1790 continental clients continued to order them, especially for armorials, because the ink-colour process so readily duplicated the engraved bookplates supplied to the decorators as source materials. The technique may have been developed first for use on glass in the 1660s in Germany, where it was called schwarzlot. Eighteenth-century shipping records sometimes may have referenced it as pencilled ware because it was executed with a thin brush called a pencil. Albert Jacquemart dubbel it encre-de-Chine. Another name Jesuit ware was used still later due in part to the many examples of ceramics with religious motifs that incorporated this technique. En grisaille, another popular term used to refer to this technique, is inappropriate as it refers to works in various media in shades of gray and brown, and it does not convey the quality or technique evident in them. The Dutch terms were zwart geemailleerd or zwart goed (black-eneameled or black goods), and the state inventory of Johannes van Bergen van der Gijp (1713-1784) lists his porcelain as swarte kunst (black art). Works incorporating the reddish enamel known in China as zhucai (yellowish-red colour-or sepia often are grouped with ink-colour wares as well. (Sargent 2012, pp.333-334)
Condition cup: A glaze rough spot to the underside of the handle, three frits and a hairline (only visible on the inside) to the rim (two frits filled).
Condition saucer: Some popped bubbles of glaze to the rim, caused during the firing process, a firing flaw in the centre, a fleabite and frit to the rim.
Reference:
Price: € 249 - $ 279 - £ 212
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Japanese Imari 1690-1800 - Tableware and other Porcelain with Western Shapes
Object 2012216
Shaving bowl
Japan
1700-1730
Height 74 mm (2.91 inch), diameter of rim 250 mm (9.84 inch), diameter of footring 100 mm (3.94 inch), weight 712 grams (25.11 ounce (oz.))
Shaving bowl on footring, spreading flat rim, a saved semi-circular section and two small holes on the rim opposite the cut-out section. Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red, green, turqioise and black enamel and gold with a jardinière filled with flowering peonies. On the rim panels filled with flowering cherry (sakura) on an underglaze blue ground with double prunus flower heads. On the reverse two wide spread flowering prunus sprays.
Shaving bowls were used by barbers and were indispensable in the Dutch household too. They were made of earthenware, pewter, copper and even silver. They had an alternative use, namely, to let blood from a vein in the arm during blood-letting, a medical procedure thought to drain bad blood from the system also performed by the barber/surgeon. In the seventeenth century, regulations were put in place in England to govern what barbers were permitted to do. Thus the became confined to bloodletting and treating external diseases. In Prussia the barbers' and the surgeons' guild joined in 1779, and it was said of great Prussian surgeons that they had risen "up from the barber's bowl'. Both purposes explain the semi-circular saving. The two holes are for a cord used to suspend it from the client's neck to catch lather and water during shaving, or to hang the bowl on the wall thus implying that owners also appreciated the bowl for its decorative value as well as its function. Chinese shaving bowls usually have the holes in the footring while Japanese examples have them in the rim. (Jörg 2003/1, p.184), (Sargent 2012, p.189)
The large circular firing crack, which originates from the rim and goes around the central decoration, apparently did not cause the shaving bowl to be rejected for sale. For other objects with similar large circular firing cracks, please see:
-
Sold Ceramics - Sold Japanese wares with Western Designs 1653-1800 - Page 1 - Object 2011899.
- Sold Ceramics - Sold Kakiemon / Kakiemon-style wares - Kakiemon - Page 1 - Object 2011332.
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Sold Ceramics - Sold Japanese Other wares - Page 1 - Object 2011156.
- Ko-Imari from the collection of Oliver Impey, (Barry Davies Oriental Art, London, 1997), pp. 162-163, cat. 92.
Condition : A circular firing flaw (crack) and a short hairline to the rim.
References:
Price: € 249 - $ 280 - £ 213
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Western Shapes
Object 2012159
Candlestick
China
1690-1700
Height 55 mm (2.17 inch), diameter of rim 65 mm (2.56 inch), diameter of footring 51 mm (2.00 inch), weight 86 grams (3.03 ounce (oz.))
Candlestick on a spreading doomed foot, cylindrical stem, tall sides. Decorated in underglaze blue with two groups of flowerings plants round the foot and a continuous upturned lotus leaves pattern border on the cylindrical stem. On the sides two wide spread flower sprays. Marked on the base with the single character mark: Yu, (Jade (Yuan to Qing)), in underglaze blue.
The Yu, 'jade', character mark is traditionally called the F-mark in the Netherlands and is very common on good-quality blue and white Kangxi export porcelain. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.115)
Candlesticks were ordered by the Dutch as early as the Transitional period and again during the reign of Qianlong, when they were made in the Louis XV and XVI styles, but Kangxi candlesticks are surprisingly rare and thus far only a few varieties are known. Their shapes are derived from silver, pewter or brass models. (Howard 1994, pp.218-219, Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.258-259)
Condition: A popped bubble of glaze, caused by the firing process and a V-shaped hairline to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.115 & pp.258-259
Price: € 749 - $ 850 - £ 640
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Various Subjects - Outdoor Scenes
Object 2010105
Teacup and saucer
China
Soft-paste or Steatitic Porcelain (pâte tendre)
1730-1740
Height of teacup 38 mm (1.49 inch), diameter of rim 70 mm (2.76 inch), diameter of footring 35 mm (1.38 inch), weight 41 grams (1.45 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 22 mm (0.87 inch), diameter of rim 115 mm (4.53 inch), diameter of footring 67 mm (2.64 inch), weight 64 grams (2.26 ounce (oz.))
Teacup and saucer on footrings. Decorated in underglaze blue with a group of people on a spit of land jutting into a lake or the sea. To the left on the shore two children with outstretched hands, at the far left rocks with trees. Around the rim a narrow band with honeycomb motifs. The teacup is decorated en suite.
This dramatic and moving representation has yet to be identified. The figures (castaways or slaves?) have dark skins and appear exhausted or are in despair. Undoubtedly, the Chinese porcelain painter painstakingly copied the scene from a Western print, possibly an engraved illustration in a travelogue or one of the countless descriptions of strange and exotic places that were published in the Netherlands in the 17th and first half of the 18th century. Plates, dishes, lotus-flower shaped dishes teacups and saucers in various shapes and even drip-trays for a jardinière are known with this representation, all in underglaze blue. Polychrome versions do not seem to exist. An (unpublished) cup and saucer in the Dutch Kasteel Loosdrecht Collection has the text 'Chineesche Begrafenis' (Chinese Funeral) written in ink in 19th-century script on the back of the saucer. This unfortunately, does not aid in its identification. (Jörg 2002/2, pp.146-147)
Soft-paste porcelain, which is quite different from European soft-paste, originated about 1700 and became popular in the second quarter of the 18th century as part of the export assortment. Unlike ordinary porcelain, it is not translucent and often has a creamy-white appearance. The glaze is often finely crackled as the result of a difference in cooling between the glaze and the body. The latter is made of a white-firing clay, called "huashi" or "slippery stone", the use of which is documented in the reports of 1712 and 1722 by the Jesuit Père d'Entrecolles. As this clay was expensive, soft-paste pieces are usually small and thinly potted. They are also well-painted, as the body is particularly suitable for detailed drawing. Besides this "true" soft-paste, there are pieces with an ordinary porcelain body and a coating of "huashi" clay, which gives the same effect. Due to the porous nature of the fired "huashi" clay, soft paste objects are overall lighter than hard paste objects. The production for export flourished between 1725-1745 and came to a stand around 1750, twenty years later the production revived but the quality of the objects produced never reached the quality level of the previous production. Only a few Chine de commande objects are known to be made of soft paste porcelain, most famous being 'Neptune' and this 'Castaways or slaves' design. (Oort & Kater 1982, p.155), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.117), (Sargent 2012, p.304)
For identically shaped, sized and decorated sold teacup and saucer, please see:
For identically decorated dishes, please see:
- La porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes a décor Occidental, (F. & N. Hervouët & Y. Bruneau, Flammarion - Pere Castor, Paris 1986), p.206, cat. 9.42.
- Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting. Selectie uit de collectie Oosterse keramiek (Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation. A Selection from the Collection of Oriental Ceramics), (C.J.A. Jörg, Jan Menze van Diepen Stichting / Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation, Slochteren 2002, pp.146-147, cat. 100.
For a similarly decorated dish, please see:
Condition teacup: Perfect, fine crazing to the glaze.
Condition saucer: A firing hairline in the centre visible on both sides, fine crazing to the glaze.
References:
Lunsingh Scheurleer 1977, cat. 246
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 119
Price: € 1.499 - $ 1,701 - £ 1,283
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Vases
Object 2011018
Baluster vase converted into a sugar caster.
China
1700-1720
Height with cover 137 mm (5.39 inch), diameter 58 mm (2.28 inch), diameter of mouthrim 35 mm (1.38 inch), diameter of base 37 mm (1.46 inch), weight with cover 232 grams (8.18 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 11 grams (0.39 ounce (oz.))
Baluster vase on footring. Fitted with marked (1846) Dutch silver mounts converting it into a sugar caster. Decorated in underglaze blue with a parrot, perched on a branch, in a lobbed medallion alternating with flowering plants within two broad bands filled with scroll work. Round the foot a descending lotus leaves-pattern border, the mouthrim with a lappet-pattern border and two butterflies in flight. The silver marks explained: the makers mark or year letter 'L' which stands for the date mark 1846, the sword mark was used (1814-1905) as the standard mark on articles too small for the full hallmarking.
The parrot exists as a well-documented, independent European design that was widely popular at a time when merchants and travellers first collected parrots as emblems of exotic lands. As early as 1580, the Antwerp engraver Adrian Collaert (1560-1618) published a series of bird prints, among which was an image of two birds on stumps, one of which eats cherries. (Sargent 2012, pp.510-511)
For an identically, shaped, sized and decorated baluster vase, please see:
- Sold Ceramics - Sold Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Other Vases - Page 1 - Object 2011374.
Condition: Scratches to the glaze where the mount fits the body.
Reference:
Price: € 399 - $ 450 - £ 340
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Western Shapes
Object 2012179
Candlestick
China
1690-1700
Height 42 mm (1.65 inch), diameter of rim 65 mm (2.56 inch), diameter of footring 41 mm (1.61 inch), weight 62 grams (2.19 ounce (oz.))
Candlestick on a spreading doomed foot, cylindrical stem, tall sides. Decorated in underglaze blue with two groups of flowerings plants round the foot and a continuous border with flower heads on the cylindrical stem. On the sides two wide spread flower sprays.
Candlesticks were ordered by the Dutch as early as the Transitional period and again during the reign of Qianlong, when they were made in the Louis XV and XVI styles, but Kangxi candlesticks are surprisingly rare and thus far only a few varieties are known. Their shapes are derived from silver, pewter or brass models. (Howard 1994, pp.218-219, Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.258-259)
Condition: A chip to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, pp.258-259
Price: € 749 - $ 849 - £ 644
(the $ and £ prices are approximates and depend on the € price exchange rate)
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