WANLI. 1573 - 1620.
Ming Dynasty 明代A Large Late Ming Blue and White Kraakware Bowl from the Wanli Period. This Early Chinese Export Porcelain Bowl is Decorated with Flowers and Buddhist Emblems Among Typical Kraakware Panels.
Kraak Porcelain is a Type of Chinese Export Porcelain Produced from the Wanli period (1573-1620) until the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 1640's. Kraak ware or Kraak porcelain was the first Chinese Export Ware to arrive in Europe in large quantities. Its name does not, as had been previously thought derived from the name of Portuguese trading ships, it is possible its name derived from Irish ships called Curachs. These trading ships worked between Ireland and England, they were know to the Dutch traders who used a similar word, craquen, to describe Portuguese trading ships. However in the 16th and early 17th centuries the word Kraak was not used in the V.O.C. record or inventories to describe porcelain.
The first known time Kraak was first used as a term to describe a type of late Ming blue and white porcelain was in 1673. This was over 100 years after what we now know as Kraak porcelain was first produced, however there is some evidence that it was a term that had been in use for some time. Blue and white porcelain was exported to Europe in large quantities from the mid 16th century. It was highly prized and the Portuguese fort hard against the Dutch to keep control of this lucrative trade, but in 1602 the Dutch sold the cargo they captured from the Portuguese Carrack 'San Tiago' and two years later they sold the cargo of the 'Santa Catarina'. These ships caused a sensation, it was the first time such large amounts of Chinese blue and white porcelain had been avalible in Northern Europe, many of the pieces were 'gifts' rather than to be sold on the open market .
All Kraak porcelain was made at the main ceramic centre in China, Jingdezhen. It does vary in style and quality to quite a large extent, and some scholars include pieces as kraakware that others do not, so a definitive description is, I feel, rather difficult. The main group of kraak porcelain is less controversial. Normally thinly potted, often moulded, it's designs are divided into decorative panels, with reserves that might include flowers and animals, taotie masks and stylised tulips. The bases often show 'Chatter Marks'. These are ridges, that radiate from the centre of the base to the foot rim, they are caused by the potters finishing tool catching on the leather hard clay prior to glazing. When one looks at the construction, painting techniques and glazing of kraak porcelain it appears similar in many ways to some of the late Ming porcelain made for the Japanese market. I think it is quite possible that they were both made within the same kilns at Jingdezhen.
Kraak porcelain also includes a few rare pieces that have the addition of underglaze copper red and there are a very few know examples of polychrome kraakware. Kraak porcelain went out of fashion at the end of the Ming Dynasty but was later revived during the reign of kangxi (1662-1722). Swatow porcelain (c.1580-1640) was made in the kraak style but this is thicker and much cruder, the bases often show grit adhering.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
TRANSITIONAL. Chongzhen Period (1628-1644) c.1640. 明代A Late Ming Blue and White Chinese Export Porcelain Ewer. Taken from a European Shape and Probably Made for the Dutch Market. Decorated in Rich Cobalt Blue with Flowering 'Floating Branches'. This Style of Decoration was very Popular at the End of the Ming Dynasty (Ended 1644) and can Frequently be Found on Vases and other Closed Shapes Made for Export to Europe. It can be seen on various Pieces from the Hatcher Cargo Shipwreck of c.1643. We have also had a Rare Water Pot made for Export to Japan that Incorporated this Type of Decoration.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
KAKIEMON. Japanese 19th CenturyA Small Shallow Japanese Kakiemon Porcelain Bowl in the Early 18th Century Style.
For Two Similar Bowls See : Japanese Porcelain (Soame Jenyns, Faber and Faber, 1965) Plate 67A both Dated to About 1700.
Kakiemon Sakaeda (酒井田柿右衛門, 1596-1666) is popularly credited with being one of the first in Japan to discover the secret of enamel decoration on porcelain, known as 'Akae'. The name "Kakiemon" was bestowed by his overload on Sakaida, who had perfected a design of twin persimmons (kaki: persimmon) and who then developed the distinctive palette of soft red, yellow, bleu and turquoise green. Kakiemon is sometimes used as a generic term describing wares made in the Arita factories using the characteristic Kakiemon over glaze enamels and decorative styles. However, authentic Kakiemon porcelains have been produced by direct descendants, now Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (1934-). Shards from the Kakiemon kiln site at Nangawara show that blue and white and celadon wares were also produced.
Kakiemon decoration is usually of high quality, delicate and with asymmetric well-balanced designs. These were sparsely applied to emphasize the fine white porcelain background body known in Japan as NIGOSHIDE (milky white) which was used for the finest pieces. Kakiemon wares are usually painted with birds, flying squirrels, the "Quail and Millet" design, the "Three Friends of Winter" (pine, prunus and bamboo), flowers (especially the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan) and figural subjects such as the popular "Hob in the Well", illustrating a Chinese folk tale where a sage saves his friend who has fallen into a large fish bowl.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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JIAJING 1522 - 1566.A Ming Imperial Yellow Saucer Shaped Dish. Inscised Six Character Jiajing Mark and of the Period.
Provenance : Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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HATCHER CARGO c.1643. ( Transitional Period : Late Ming or Early Qing ).A Ming Hatcher Cargo Kraak Porcelain Dish, c.1643. The Barbed Rim Shallow Porcelain Dish has Typical Kraak Border Panels of Flowers, Fruit and Birds. The Center Decorated with a Bird on a Rock with Peony and a Butterflies.
THE HATCHER CARGO, Of the 25,000 recovered pieces most were blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen. However, a few Swatow and Blanc de Chine items were also recovered. It seems apparent that this cargo was going to be trans-shipped, some for the local South East Asian market, including bird feeders, cricket cages and pickled dishes. However there were many items made for the West, including western shapes. The Dutch East India Company ( The V.O.C.) had been sending wooden shapes out for copying from the 1630’s.Transitional period porcelain (between the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing) is often of very good quality with wonderful landscape and paintings of plants. Indeed the quality of this cargo is generally very high. It dates from the very end of the Ming dynasty. A cover with a cyclical date of Sring 1643 has been recovered. It is one of the most important shipwrecks recovered (See 'HISTORY' for more information about the Hatcher Cargo and 'READING LIST' for books about shipwreck ceramics). R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
KANGXI 1662 - 1722. An Early Kangxi Porcelain Bowl, c.1662-1674. Thickly Potted with Steep Sides and a Deep Base with a Rounded Thick Footrim Burnt Orange in the Firing.
Decorated with Large Flowering Peony, Bamboo and Plum Growing Through a Scholars Rock, the Reverse with Two Birds, the Well of the Bowl with Insects Flying Around Peonies and Rocks. The Inner Border of Half Flower Heads.
The Base with a Six Character Mark Translated as 'Antique Made For The Hall For The Cultivation of Virtue'. See Gerald Davison : The Handbook of Marks on Chinese Ceramics (Han-Shan Tang Books, 1994. Out of print) Page 121, Mark 1358.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
MEISSEN c.1750 - 1765
German Hard-Paste PorcelainAn 18th Century Meissen Porcelain Knife Handel.
The Pistol-Shape Handel Part Moulded with a Basket-Weave Pattern (Alt-Ozier, meaning old ozier). Painted with 'Natural Flowers' (Naturliche Blumen). The Metal Later. R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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NORTHERN SONG 978 A.D.A Rare Dated Yue 'Mise' Type Shard. Part of a Base. The Four Characters on the Base, 'Taiping mouyin' Correspond to the Cyclical Year Mouyin of the Taiping Xingguo Era of the Northern Song Dynasty or AD 978. The 'Mise' Type was Court Tributes Produced by the Yue Kilns from the Late Tang Dynasty and Five dynasties to the Early Northern Song Dynasty. R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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HATCHER CARGO c.1643. ( Transitional Period : Late Ming or Early Qing ).Hatcher Cargo, Transitional Porcelain c.1643. A Large Hatcher Cargo Kraak Porcelain Blue and White Dish.
The Hatcher Cargo was the first shipwreck cargo to come on to the market. It was sold in three auctions in Christie's Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985. It is a very important cargo of shipwreck ceramics, despite the lack of historical evidence recorded by the salvage team. A porcelain cover dated to the Spring of 1643 helps confirm the date of the wreck. The Ming dynasty ended in 1644 and the period of chaos between between the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing dynasty is referred to as the Transitional period. The Hatcher Cargo is a vital dating tool for late Ming and early Qing porcelain.
Kraak Porcelain is a Type of Chinese Export Porcelain Produced from the Wanli period (1573-1620) until the end of the Ming Dynasty in the 1640's. Kraak ware or Kraak porcelain was the first Chinese Export Ware to arrive in Europe in large quantities. Its name does not, as had been previously thought derived from the name of Portuguese trading ships, it is possible its name derived from Irish ships called Curachs. These trading ships worked between Ireland and England, they were know to the Dutch traders who used a similar word, craquen, to describe Portuguese trading ships. However in the 16th and early 17th centuries the word Kraak was not used in the V.O.C. record or inventories to describe porcelain.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
BLANC DE CHINE. Kangxi c.1690 - 1720. 康熙A Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain ( from Dehua, Fujian Province ) Model of a Buddhist lion. The legs and head are press moulded, however the body is quite crudely cut from a single piece of porcelain, with a line of moulded hair on his back and feint incised lines. This is an unusual version of a well known type.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
KAKIEMON. Japanese c.1680 - 1700.A Japanese Kakiemon Porcelain Bowl. Decorated in Enamels Over a 'Nigoshide Body'. The Design Consists of Bundles of Millet and Flowers.
Kakiemon Sakaeda (酒井田柿右衛門, 1596-1666) is popularly credited with being one of the first in Japan to discover the secret of enamel decoration on porcelain, known as 'Akae'. The name "Kakiemon" was bestowed by his overload on Sakaida, who had perfected a design of twin persimmons (kaki: persimmon) and who then developed the distinctive palette of soft red, yellow, bleu and turquoise green. Kakiemon is sometimes used as a generic term describing wares made in the Arita factories using the characteristic Kakiemon overglaze enamels and decorative styles. However, authentic Kakiemon porcelains have been produced by direct descendants, now Sakaida Kakiemon XIV (1934-). Shards from the Kakiemon kiln site at Nangawara show that blue and white and celadon wares were also produced.
Kakiemon decoration is usually of high quality, delicate and with asymmetric well-balanced designs. These were sparsely applied to emphasize the fine white porcelain background body known in Japan as NIGOSHIDE (milky white) which was used for the finest pieces. Kakiemon wares are usually painted with birds, flying squirrels, the "Quail and Millet" design, the "Three Friends of Winter" (pine, prunus and bamboo), flowers (especially the chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan) and figural subjects such as the popular "Hob in the Well", illustrating a Chinese folk tale where a sage saves his friend who has fallen into a large fishbowl.
The 'Nigoshide' Body was a New Whiter Porcelain Body Introduced Between about 1660 - 1680, Solely for use on Kakiemon Wares. Indeed the Kakiemon Palette Evolved at the Same Time. It has Recently been Proposed that the Nigoshide Body is not a New Body at all, Rather it is Just Made from a Clay that has been Levigated and Washed more.
Provenance : G & C. W. Digby Collection. Robert McPherson Antiques. The John Drew Collection.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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SOUTHERN SONG or YUAN DYNASTY. 13th or Early 14th century.A Song or Yuan Dynasty Qingbai Porcelain Conical Shaped Bowl with a Thickened Rim. The Base Unglazed.
One of qingbai’s most distinct features is its transparent icy-blue glaze and the names given to qingbai have attempted to capture the essence of this colour. Qing means ‘bluish green' and bai means ‘white’ to form the meaning ‘blue white.’ This ware has also been termed yingqing ‘shadow blue,’ yinqing ‘hidden blue,’ and zhaoqing ‘added blue.’The colour was so greatly admired by the Chinese that they often likened qingbai unto their highly prized stone, jade. An exceptional colour of jade referred to as biyu or ‘bluish-white’ exists and is so reminiscent of qingbai that the porcelain was entitled jiayu or ‘imitation jade.’ For more information about Qingbai ware go to the HISTORY section of the website and see Song Ceramics by Mindy McDonald.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain
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YUAN 1279 - 1368.A Yuan Purple Splashed Jun Ware Dish or Saucer. The thickly potted body has a lavender coloured glaze with two copper 'Purple Splashes'.
Provenance : Purchased at Loo, Paris November 1927. R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
HATCHER CARGO c.1643. ( Transitional Period : Late Ming or Early Qing ). Late Ming Porcelain. Wine Cup From The Hatcher Shipwreck Decorated with Dragons in Blue and White. Christie's Hatcher Cargo Label to Base.
THE HATCHER CARGO, Of the 25,000 recovered pieces most were blue and white porcelain from Jingdezhen. However a few Swatow and Blanc de Chine items were found. It seems apparent that this cargo was going to be trans-shipped, some for the local South East Asian market, including bird feeders, cricket cages and pickled dishes. However there were many items made for the West, including western shapes. The Dutch East India Company ( The V.O.C.) had been sending wooden shapes out for copying from the 1630’s.Transitional period porcelain (between the end of the Ming and the beginning of the Qing) is often of very good quality with wonderful landscape and paintings of plants. Indeed the quality of this cargo is generally very high. It dates from the very end of the Ming dynasty. A cover with a cyclical date of Sring 1643 has been recovered. It is one of the most important shipwrecks recovered.
R and G McPherson dealers in antique Chinese porcelain |
WANLI to CHONGZHEN c.1580 - 1640.
Ming Dynasty.明代A Late Ming Blue and White 'Swatow' Porcelain Bowl. The Exterior is Plain. The Interior is Similar to the 'Walsingham Bowl' at Burghley (see below). Decorated with a Roundel to the Well Containing a Mountainous Shore-side Landscape Surrounded by Cakra motifs (representing the Buddhist 'Wheel of law') . The Border with an Extensive Shore-side Landscape with Mountains, Flags, Pagodas and Boats. Be |