Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

My in-laws bought these in Hong Kong in January 1965. Can someone please help me to date them?

Hong Kong was a territory under British control in 1965, a time when Mainland China was experiencing the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and many Western countries still had embargoes and/or heavy customs rates in effect against products made on the communist Mainland. Thus these vases may have been made in Hong Kong or another noncommunist locale such as Taiwan.

I mention this because the apparent sheen reflected from the vases is similar to what I've seen before on faux cinnabar resin castings that I believe mostly date to the early decades after World War II. Your vases probably would have to be inspected up close to reach an accurate determination. Some of these castings have only a superficial coat of red paint over the resin. Sometimes small areas of wear will reveal a different color beneath. I've seen boxes made of such material that warped, due apparently to having been left for too long near household heat sources such as furnaces or sunlit windows.

Best regards,

Bill H.

Bill, thanks for the information. The vases certainly could have been made in Hong Kong, as they were bought there in January 1965. It is hard to know. I am certain, however, that these vases are not red paint over resin. I've looked them over very carefully as you suggested and found nothing that might suggest these were painted. As for the sheen, it is reflection from the bright movie lights that I used when I originally photographed the vases. I won't be using those lights again! Here is a photo I just took of one of the vases using natural light from the window. Any additional thoughts will be greatly appreciated!

This article might be of interest - the Beijing carved lacquer workshop was apparently one of the government-sponsored crafts factories set up in the 1950s dedicated to earning foreign exchange. So your 1960s vases may have come from Beijing.

A lot of "carved" red something-or-other is still being produced - seems to be some sort of material other than lacquer, tho. Possibly a variety of materials...and I put "carved" in quotes because molding seems to be a thing.

URL Title :Beijing Lacquer Carving

A quick online flyover article

URL Title :Real or Repro - Cinnabar

Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries |