Asianart.com | Associations | Articles | Exhibitions | Galleries

Visitors' Forum

Asian Art Forums - Reply Message
Asian Art Forums

Message Listing by Date:
Message Index | Back | Post a New Message | Search | Private Mail | FAQ
Subject:Rare Chinese porcelain vase with hole in base
Posted By: richard Thu, Aug 04, 2016 IP: 86.139.223.13
Could any ceramic expert out there give me a clue as to where this pretty little very detailed Chinese? vase was made or what country it possibly came from?

The stand is not original by the way and was bought else where. The vase shows 8 different Chinese? figures and is 25 cm high. It looks old and a tiny number 15 impressed in the base. The base also shows a hole, 1.3 cm diameter.
The hole in the base seems to be original as it still has the glaze over it and does not seem to be drilled at a later stage as with some Chinese or Japanese vases converted into lamps! How ever I am not sure what purpose the hole in the base serves?

Thank you for any help or pointing me in the right direction.







Subject:Re: Rare Chinese porcelain vase with hole in base
Posted By: Gman Mon, Aug 08, 2016
Pierced items like this double gourd form with a factory made hole at the bottom aren't usually described as a vase. However, with the appropriate arrangement of dry flowers, it could be used as a vase, a use it was not designed for.

What the pierced design and factory bottom hole clearly indicate is that this item is not a vase, it is a lamp base.

The hole in the bottom is for mounting the light fixtures and the wood base which would give the lamp base a wider footing to balance the weight of the lampshade. As regards returning your item to service as a lamp, it is unfortunate that your wooden base is missing since it is a functional part of the lamp base, and the feet of the wooden base provide the space where the electric cord would emerge from the lamp.

However, for decorative purposes it is fine the way it is.

These pierced lamp bases, popular in the 1950's and 1960's, usually included a light fixture inside the base. The problem with these lamps was that when the internal light bulb burned out, the lamp would have to be disassembled to replace it, an operation which can hardly be considered user friendly. It may be for this reason that the many similar items you will find seldom retain their light fixtures, yet most still have their original wooden bases.

If it were me, converting these lamps into decorative items would include adding the means to solidly attach the lamp to its wooden base which would make these tall and top heavy pieces a lot safer.

If you make a Google image search with "Blanc de chine porcelain lamp base" you should find many images to compare.

The link below will show you one such lamp base, note the similarity of the pierced bamboo leaf design.

Cheers
Gman

URL Title :Blanc De Chine Pierced Porcelain Lamp Base


Post a Reply
Name:
Email:
Group: China & Japan
Subject:
Message:
Link URL:
Enter here the complete URL of any site, page or image you would like to show other visitors.
URL Title:
Enter here the title of the link you've given above. This will appear to the visitor. Eg., if you are linking another picture, enter "Another picture". The link will not appear without a title.
Image URL:
Enter here the URL of an image if it is already uploaded on the web. The image will appear with your posting. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post.
Image: You may upload up to three images. If you would like to upload more images to this message please do so by replying to this same message.

Please make sure the file type is JPEG or GIF and the filename does not contain spaces.




Use the Browse button to find an image (jpg or gif) on a local drive on your computer to upload for including with your message. Do not upload images with file names containing spaces. Please do not upload files larger than 500 KB in size. Do not post pictures which are not yours without permission from the copyright holder. It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure they have permission to use any photos they post. Check the "email notification" box below if you would like to be notified of any responses to your message.
Check here for email notification.
Security Code: Security Image: please enter the text appears in this image.

Please type in the code you see in the image directly above this input box.

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