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Hi all

I am pleased to unveil to all, for comment, my recently acquired pair of Kangxi Imari pieces.

The first is an odd noodle bowl. It is much larger than it looks in the photos. I am very much taken with the broad blue stripes. This is underglaze blue; it has not been "clobbered" on. They sort of look like pyjama stripes, or some French wallpaper.

I have never come across a piece with such a unique style of decoration, though no doubt it was common and done to European tastes of the time.

The piece is quite star-cracked at the base.

http://www.trocadero.com/threeempires/items/811103/item811103.html

The second piece is undamaged, and to me a quite appealing bit of Chinese-Imari work. It depicts a group of poultry sizing each other up. The gilding is much more impressive on the actual dish. I really like the distinctive expressions on the chickens' faces.

http://www.trocadero.com/threeempires/items/1073516/item1073516.html

Anyone care to comment on whether these are genuine pieces or not? And more particularly, how unusual is that design on the noodle-bowl? Is it some sort of European made to order thing?

Thanks!!!!
JLim

The second piece

The plate looks Chinese, no doubt, but the bowl looks more like Japanese Imari. Some elements do not look Chinese at all, in my view.

Regarding the bowl,it is my impression from looking at auction results for Chinese Imari that Chinese bowls made with such a thorough Japanese appearance about them may be rare. I found some having related decoration (see URL below), but the Chinese almost always seem to have opted for the iron red lozenge diaper where yours has the more Japanese looking scroll motive or arabesque around the outside rim. Perhaps it it is a sign of earlier manufacture, before the Chinese came up with Imari patterns of their own. The firing flaws certainly are consistent with kiln problems seen earlier in the late Ming and transitional period.

The plate is attractive and unusual, I think, for its chicken motif. Your plate lacks the diaper around the cavetto that often appears on early 18th century Chinese Imari, but the floral accents on the rim provide balance. In her book 'Chinese Export Porcelain in North America', Barbara McClure Mudge dates Chinese Imari dishes wth essentially the same floral decoration to circa 1720-30. I've attached an example with the cited diaper herewith.

Besst regards,

Bill H.

I think I may have left out the URL I mentioned, which if so follows herewith:

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot/three-blue-ground-chinese-imari-bowls-first-half-4514459-details.aspx?

Best regards,

Bill H.

Thanks again Bill H! Those Christies bowls are intriguing. I'll check more Japanese Imari of the period and see if I find a match.

Here's a link to a plate in a Japanese style similar to your bowl and which is more readily identifiable with Chinese by its figures. On the other hand, I can see some stylistic nuances in the figural painting to ponder whether it actually is a Kangxi period piece or might be later.

Best regards,

Bill H.

URL Title :ChineseImari

And my apologies to Ms Mudge for misstating her first name, which actually is Jean.
BH

Dear Bill

Would you say the lozenge diaper pattern, on the interior lip of my Imari noodle bowl, is Chinese in style? What about the Buddhist thunderbolt?

Rgds
JLim

The lozenge diaper has several variants in Chinese usage. As such, it's probably important to keep in mind that these designs have come down to the Japanese via China and are just as culturally important to Japan as to China. I tend to think it's important to consider them in the context of the whole pattern than as an individual components when pondering who made the piece. Japanese potters and painters have made some very "Chinese" ceramics over the centuries.

Best regards,

Bill H.

To all

With regard to the Kangxi Imari bowl with stripes - I just got another one! Spotted an absolutely identical bowl on Ebay UK and dropped a bid. Got it for absolute pence. Now I'll have a pair of these wonderful things.

Admittedly they're both a bit damaged. But I think having a pair of such unusual Kangxi Imari pieces is great.

Rgds
JLim

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