Featured MING DYNASTY POTTERY AND OTHER POTTERIES

***Hello Everyone!

Quick Story: My dad collected Antiques for over 50 years. As a kid, my dad had an Antiques Store. My dad is getting older and recently sold his house. The house was filled with his most precious finds: Chinese Potteries, Porcelains, Paintings, Etchings, Prints, Tobys, etc, and many many Antique and Rare Books (several are signed) some books are as old as 1600's.


My dad gave me everything. I was the only kid so he wanted me to have all of his most precious treasures. I feel blessed. I will be posting a few things on here in the next few weeks in hope of getting a few more information on certain pieces. I still have 12 boxes of Antique books that are unopened so it will take me some time but will try to post the best finds on here. ***


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What I would like to know about those Potteries:
- I believe the one with the Y at the bottom dates from the Ming Dynasty but not sure
- Trying to find out if the one with the double Circles Marks is a Genuine Kangxi Era or just a reproduction?
- I have done a lot of researches on Antique Ginger Jars and I never came across one with a brass top like the one I have. Wondering if it was originally part of the Jar or added later?
-Also trying to figure out the markings under this one with the Brass top
- I believe the one with the Bird and Gold Flowers is not Chinese but Japanese? I believe it's not as old as well.
- Any Insights would be appreciated!

 

I think I missed this picture, here is the bottom of the one I believe could be from Ming Dynasty:

 

It is Provincial Ware, probably from Fujian on the SE coast of China.
In Dutch we call it 'Boeren Ming', farmers Ming, and as usual the Dutch were probably a bad influence when it came to naming Chinese wares.
Unfortunately there is little research done on Provincial Ware in general. Although it is thought that these jars originated during the Ming dynasty, most were made during the Qing dynasty.

It was added later, probably in another part of SE Asia. These storage vessels were exported throughout SE Asia, more so than to the West. They usually ended up in the West through colonial ties.
Btw, ginger jars is the term that is commonly used in the West. Since these vessels were used for storage of anything that needed to be preserved for a longer period of time, for instance rice, a more proper term is storage jars.

I think so too. Very pretty.

 

Hello Any, thank you so much for all the great info! This information is very valuable to me and what you say makes total sense!

I don't know anything about Chinese potteries but I am reading on it and you seem spot on when it comes to Provincial pieces VS Imperial.

It's my understanding that Imperial is much more valuable than Provincial pieces.

Glad to get some insights from someone who know their stuff!

I will read again your comment as reference.

Have a great day!

 

Those storage jars show up in the hundreds on the Thames foreshore. Sometimes whole, sometimes in sherds. Used as ballast, often. It's feasible that the brass top, probably Indian, was added for export to somewhere like the UK. Or even that they were imported as separate components.

 

Yes, it is the posh townspeople versus the country folk.
Highly underrated imo. It is sturdy stuff, stoneware, that was extremely important in the Asian maritime trade. From a historical viewpoint it is highly valuable, but as we know, history is rarely translated into hard cash.

 

Yes, ceramics were originally used as ballast. European were more interested in tea and silk, but needed weight. Ceramics provided that, and could be sold as well, which is why most ceramics that arrived here were porcelain.

Storage jars mostly reached Europe as utilitarian vessels on ships. Whenever they bought food and drink along the Asian coasts, it was provided in Chinese storage jars.
The most famous ones are the large Martaban jars, often decorated with dragons. Those were used for (rice) wine and water.

 

I think Master Chris is going to keep the Forum hopping for a while.

 

Yup, some nice things to look at.

 

Looking forward to your posts. Some of those jars look like they have quite a bit of age, but the "farmer's ming" (I love that moniker!) stuff has been made in the same manner for a long time, so figuring out whether your item is 200 years old or 50 years old is rather difficult. I have a few green storage jars and some pottery wine jugs (they look like vases rather than jugs); lots of this sort of stuff came to this shore (Vancouver Island) since about 1850 when the Chinese immigrated en masse to Gold Mountain.

 

Your jars are nicer and better decorated than the stuff I have have for sale. However I have had 2-3 old provincial pieces listed for around $100 each. They’ve been listed for a couple years with zero interest until one sold recently. My price was high probably. I think yours would do better though like I said.

There is an Asian art dealer named Peter Coombs who will do ID’s for $12 per item on his website. In the biz for many decades and seems to be the best source of info I have found on Chinese ceramics. I haven’t used the service but it gets used a lot from what I understand. He also has an awesome YouTube channel for learning about Asian art, specifically ceramics, and particularly Chinese. Just thought I’d mention it in case you get stuck on something you think may have a high value.

 

At various times I'd paid to have access to the gotheborg.com discussion board. There is a lot of information there and there are also very knowledgeable people to ask and discuss. I don't have an active membership at the moment but it's something to think about if you have a lot of items to sort out. Heads up.....they are extremely polite and proper, almost formal. (At least they were the last time I was a member.)

https://www.gotheborg.com/cgi-bin/discus/discus.cgi?pg=topics

 

JonnyDagger/SayIt/OB/AJ- Thanks very much all,for helping unravel the formidable,fascinating & complex subject of Asian ceramics and for referring more research tools.

 

Thank you so much everyone for all the great information !! I think I will try with Peter Combs !

 

I come across a lot of these prunus ginger jars that want to be Kanxi period. I would be surprised if it were not late Qing Dynasty, but hope I'm wrong and that you have a much more desirable and expensive piece.