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Robert McPherson Antiques.

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Three Small 18th Century Japanese Porcelain Dishes, Arita Kilns c.1740-1770

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A Late Ming Blue and White Kraak Porcelain `Betel` Box and Cover, Chongzhen Period c.1643. From the Hatcher Cargo purchase in the 1980s. The rounded oval form has a divided central compartment. The Decoration is in the Kraak Style with divided Kraak borders, the central design on the top is of two flowering peony. The Base is, as with all of these late Ming porcelain boxes, painted with a different design, in this case composed of flowering plants. `Still Life with a Lobster` by Willem Claesz Heda c.1650-1659 shows a very similar box and cover, also with a different design top and bottom. To further prove the base and top started life together you can see that a fragment of porcelain from the cover is glazed to the unglazed rim of the base. These boxes were shipped with the bases joined to the covers so they stayed together.

#hatchercargo #hatchercargoporcelain #shipwreckporcelain #shipwreckceramics #shipwreckfinds #betelnut #betelnutbox #chongzhenporcelain #transitionalporcelain #mingporcelain #ming #mingceramics #robertmcphersonantiques

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Vietnamese boxes and cover, from the Hoi An Hoard c.1450-1480.

#hoianhoard #robertmcphersonantiques #vietameseceramics #15thcenturypottery

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The Popularization Of Tea in England

The [British East India] company established a “factory,” the trading post of a factor, or agent, in Canton in 1699, and later merchants from other countries did the same. Company ships had already begun to take part in the so-called junk (or country) trade with Southeast Asia (“junk” is a Malayan word for ship), conducted by Chinese merchants and operating out of Ningpo, Xiamen (Amoy), and Canton. Canton soon became the chief entrepôt for the English trade, which dealt in such articles as silk, porcelain, lacquer, fans, rhubarb, musk, and “tutenag,” an alloy similar to zinc. Before long, however, tea became the principal article of trade, and the demand in England rose steeply. In spite of conservative objections to this new and insidious drink, the popularity of tea did much to deliver the lower classes in Britain from the use of cheap gin, whose harmful effects are so vividly displayed in Hogarth’s prints.

The figure for tea exports to Europe in 1720 was about 12,700 chests per annum, the major amount going to the London market. A marked increase took place between 1760 and 1770, and by 1830 the figure had reached 360,000 chests a year. In 1803 the tea imported into England was worth over £14 million sterling. Dr. Samuel Johnson must have been in the forefront of those who popularized the drinking of tea, for Boswell remarks, “I suppose no person ever enjoyed with more relish the infusion of that fragrant leaf than Johnson. The quantities which he drank of it at all hours were so great, that his nerves must have been uncommonly strong not to have been extremely relaxed by such an intemperate use of it.” The year was 1756.

...

The better brands, Congou and Souchong, were sold wholesale in London in about 1800 for 2 shillings 10 pence to 6 shillings 10 pence per pound, but the most expensive teas would retail at 16 to 18 shillings per pound. The high value of tea serves to explain its careful storage in beautifully made tea caddies of hardwood with elaborate brass locks. The common people were also able to afford tea in small quantities of a brand known as Bohea, selling for less than 2 shillings 6 pence a pound, in which tea leaves were mixed with some leaves from other plants, such as sloe, liquorice, or even ash and elder.

(China, Its History And Culture, W. Morton)

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Chinese Export porcelain tureen and cover shaped as a goose, Qianlong period, circa 1750.

Courtesy Alain Truong

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Bottle with peonies and Chinese lion, Unknown Japanese, c. 1660s, Minneapolis Institute of Art: Japanese and Korean Art

bottle with design of red and cream colored peonies, and a Chinese lion This elegant, pear-shaped bottle features an auspicious combination of Chinese motifs— lush peonies and mythological lion-dogs—executed in red, blue, yellow, green, and black overglaze enamels. The technique of decorating porcelains by painting designs in multi-colored enamels over glazed, high-fired works was mastered in Japan only in the 1640s. Although also extremely popular within the country, many of these wares were intended for export to Southeast Asia and Europe. Size: 11 3/16 × 6 3/16 × 6 3/16 in. (28.42 × 15.72 × 15.72 cm) Medium: Hizen ware, Ko-Imari style; porcelain with overglaze enamels

https://collections.artsmia.org/art/6645/

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When Salem sent ships all over the world. 1780-1850. This plate is Chinese about 1795-1805

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Cat night-light, late 18th-early 19th century, China, glazed porcelain Sandy Lerner Collection, SFO Museum

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A Jizhou Black Glazed Stoneware Jar Southern Song (1127-1279) or Jin (1115-1234). A Stoutly Potted Jar with with Lug Handles and Paper Cut Reserves in the Form of a Flowering Branch. Two Ting Kiln Supports Have Been Left on the base of the jar.

Condition

In excellent condition, minor wear.

Size

Height : 11 cm (4 1/4 inches)

Provenance

R&G McPherson Antiques The Collection of Mr and Mrs Guy Jones. Label to base.

Stock number

24074

References

For a Jizhou jar of this type with paper cut reserves against a black ground, in this example the reserves are also undecorated, see : Jizhou Kiln (Wenwu. ISBN 978-7-5010-2172-7) plate 41.

#jizhoukilns #jizhouware #jizhoupottery #southernsongdynasty #southernsongpottery #songceramics #earlychineseceramics #chineseart #jinpottery #collectingchineseceramics #robertmcphersonantiques

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Available.

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A Kangxi Faille Verte Porcelain Dish of Flower Shape c.1700. Painted in rich colours including overglaze blue, green, mustard yellow and black. The scene in the center is of brightly coloured mythical sea creatures, Shen (Clam-Monsters) with flaming pearls, being tossed about among the waves. The border with more Shen and birds on flowering branches divided by panels of rich brocade. The base with an underglaze blue seal mark.

Condition

In very good condition, the enamels are strong and bright, however there is some very slight rubbing to the inner gold border and one loss of over-glaze blue enamel at the bottom of the central scene.

Size

27.2 cm (10 1/2 inches)

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A Rare Large Kangxi Blanc de Chine Porcelain Model of a Well Dressed Lady Presumed to be a Prostitute or as Donnelly Describes Her a “Lascivious Woman”, Dehua Kilns, Fujian Province, Kangxi Period c.1690-1710. This Very Tall Blanc de Chine Figure of a European was Probably Inspired by the Prints of the Bonnart Family (Print Makers and Publishers) of Paris. She is Wearing a `Mantua` Which is Falling off Her Shoulder While She Uses One Hand to Expose Herself. There is a Socket for the Missing Arm, Which was Possibly Holding a Fan. Her Tall Hair Style is Typical of the Fontange Style of the 1690s`.

This interesting and rare Blanc de Chine figure must have been made in very small numbers. Very few survive and to my knowledge none have remained with their detachable arm. The engraving that was presumably the source for this figure is not know. The Bonnart family produced a large number of engravings of fashionable women during the last decades of the 17th century and the very beginning of the 18th century. They frequently show ladies wearing a Mantua and Fontange hair style.

The Mantua (Clothing) :

The Mantua sometimes referred to as a bodice was more coat like in construction. It was originally an informal style of clothing that was introduced into the French court by Louis the XIV in the late 1670`s. The name is possibly derived from the old French word for coat Manteuil. The draped form displayed silks to their best advantage. The sleeves were cut in one piece with the back and front, it was pleated at the shoulders and fell to the waist. The Sleeves were elbow length and cuffed, often with overlapping layers of lace showing from the under garment. Some Matuas were made of `bizarre silk` including one dated 1708 (Metropolitan Museum of Art`s Costume Institute). The 17th century form of Mantua changed over time, in the 18th century extreme examples were made. For example in the well known painting by Gainsborough of c.1750 depicting Mr and Mrs Andrews, the Mantua is so wide it fills up a seat made for two, Mr Andrews has to Stand.

Fontange (Hair Style):

A fontange, or frelange, is a high headdress popular during the end of the late 17th and early 18th centuries in Europe. Technically, fontanges are only part of the assembly, referring to the ribbon bows which support the frelange. The frelange was supported by a wire framework called a commode. A surviving example of a frelange headdress with fontanges and commode in situ is that worn by the 1690s fashion doll Lady Clapham of c.1690-1700 (Victoria and Albert Museum, in the British Galleries, Museum number T.846-1974). In England, the style was popularly known as a `top-knot`, versions of which were worn by ladies of all ranks, from the Queen downwards to kitchen maids, making it an easy target for satire and criticism.

The fontange is said to be named for the Duchesse de Fontange (Marie Angélique de Scorailles 1661-1681), a mistress of King Louis XIV of France. One version of the story is that after losing her cap while hunting with the King, the Marquise tied her hair up using a ribbon in a manner that pleased him, and this was imitated by the other ladies at court, subsequently spreading across Europe. What started out as a simple headdress of folded ribbon in the 1680s became,

with additional fabric, lace and trimmings, taller and more complex, increasingly difficult to create and wear. Despite its courtly origins, fontanges were forbidden to be worn at French state occasions, although the English court accepted them, with Queen Mary having her portrait painted wearing one. The term “fontange” is also used by some writers to refer to the associated hairstyle or the combination of headdress and hairstyle.The `fontange coiffure` was a hairstyle where the front of the hair was worn curled and piled high above the forehead in front of the frelange, which was always higher than the hair. Sometimes the hairstyle was supported by a wire framework called a pallisade. Addapted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fontange

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A finely painted Kangxi gilded powder blue porcelain YenYen or phoenix-tail vase, Kangxi period c.1690-1720. The mottled cobalt blue ground is richly decorated with panels of flowering plants, there is peony, prunus with a bird perched on the branch. The reverse is of lotus and chrysanthemum. The panels are framed by a half flower-head chrysanthemum and scroll ground inset with smaller panels containing fish.

Provenance:

R & G McPherson Antiques.

The Roy Davids Collection acquired on December 1st 2006, item 68.

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A Large Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Saucer Shaped Dish, None-Imperial Kangxi Six-Character Mark and of the Period. The central design is of Ladies, `Long Eliza` (Lange Lyzen in Dutch), in a garden landscape.

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A Rare Xuantong (1909 -1912) Non-Imperial Mark and Period, Inscribed and Armorial Dish Dated 1910. This Dish with a Six Character Red Xuantong Mark is Inscribed Alice och (and) James Keiller, Canton 1910. The Design is a Large Vase with Flowering Branches Among Auspicious Emblems.

Condition

In perfect condition.

Size

24 cm (9 1/2 cm)

Provenance

Alice and James Keiller 1910. Christie`s Auction Allen`s Antiques of New Zealand The James Nearing and Florence Giovannetti-Nearing Dragon Lair’s Collection. The Cape Breton-born doctor, James Nearing served as acting director of occupational health with the Workers` Compensation Board of British Columbia, has had a distinguished career in workplace health and safety as applied to mines and mining.

Stock number

24382

References

A tureen from the 1913 group is illustrated in : Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Volume II (David Sanctuary Howard, Heirloom & Howard, 2003. ISBN 0-9544-389-0-6) page 704, X9.

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A Large Kangxi Blue and White Porcelain Saucer Shaped Dish, None-Imperial Kangxi Six-Character Mark and of the Period. The central design is of Ladies, `Long Eliza` (Lange Lyzen in Dutch), in a garden landscape. The moulded border is decorated with flowering sprigs including peony. The Base with a six-character Kangxi mark. Kangxi blue and white porcelain figure decorated plates and dishes of this type were very popular in Holland where the elegant Chinese ladies were referred to as Lange Lyzen.