Our next sale contains numerous Chinese and some Japanese porcelain articles. 
As I cataloged these 100 plus articles, examining them all, each different, all interesting, I recalled how I had marveled at their beauty years ago when an older friend of my parents brought some porcelain from an antique show to show the family, but I had not realized until now just how diverse the arena of Oriental arts was. Porcelains from China and Japan have been of interest to Westerners for centuries, and recently they have had a revival of interest with collectors.
Although the first Chinese porcelain wares date as early as 1600 BC, the intrigue to Westerners with Chinese porcelain goes back to when the early “blue and white” items were exported to Europe during the 17th century (the Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644). Further expansion brought porcelain wares into Europe via the Silk Road trade. And soon Europeans’ esteem for Chinese porcelain led to their success in duplicating Chinese porcelain in centers of Meissen and Dresden in the early 1700s. 
Porcelain might be separated from what I call “paste” or “pottery” because it is a ceramic brought to a high degree of hardness by, the turning of kaolin clay and other mixed-in ingredients into glassy substances. The actual formula for porcelain has always been elusive, but it involves the use of Kaolin and other ingredients such as feldspathic minerals, quartz, silica and even bone ash (for making “Bone” China). When fired at the very high temperature of 2,462 degrees F., vitrification occurs and this ceramic differs from pottery or paste primarily because it is harder and stronger as well as immune to sudden temperature changes. 
To anyone not familiar with the Chinese language, understanding Chinese porcelain must present an intimidating challenge. There is a confusing array of terms used to describe different objects and their styles, dynasties and reigns within, dating objects and cypher like signatures that may or may not define the actual maker or region of origin. Just because a certain kind of porcelain was first made at a certain time does not mean it was not abundantly produced in later times. Styles and signatures are often borrowed from makers working hundreds of years earlier, to the point where experts routinely argue about a certain object’s real age and origin. There’s something of a cultural difference between our western notion of “faking” or “reproducing”, but the Chinese way of simply producing objects in the spirit of old-time beauty, and using a false signature might be their way of giving honor or credit to the original master other than for pure financial gain.
In the course of cataloging our September 9th sale we spotted a few terms and a little history background which we feel would add depth and pleasure to understanding some of these lots. As a guide to putting this article together, I referred to a number of sources, including the thoughtfully written website of www.gotheborg.com.
WUCAI
The term wucai has been used to describe porcelain with multi-color glazes. Translated literally wucai means “five color wares”, referring to the number of different colored glazes used in decorating porcelain. This ties in with the sacred Chinese and Buddhist belief of the number five as being almost sacred to the Chinese culture. The technique of decorating with five colors was especially popular during the Ming period (1368-1642) by Emperors who commissioned them during the years 1522- 1619. In our upcoming sale we have a number of good examples of wucai. Some, such as lot 96, are real “eye-bangers” with a stunning array of colors and patterns applied in great detail; others are more subtle, yet bold and engaging in there illustrative qualities, such as lot 149; while still others, such as lot 78, seem to have both qualities of busy detail coupled with storytelling illustrative qualities.
CELADON
There are several of Celadon glazed items. The term “Celadon” refers to a family of ceramics with a certain type of glaze, usually green but is also seen in other colors such as white, grey, blue and yellow. Colors and their tonal qualities are achieved by the glaze thickness, the clay’s sculptural qualities, and of course the makeup of the glaze itself. Many times examples in green, the most common, remind me of jade. The presence of a crackle finish is considered desirable in celadon and one such example, lot 110 in our collection, shows this well, with two series of crackle patterns creating bold divisions all around the vase. The Celadon family of porcelain, where green glazes are laid over porcelain was extremely popular between 1860 and 1920.
Famille Rose literally means something close to “pink family”, although other terms describe the same style. One term used in place of Famille Rose was Yangcai meaning “foreign colors” implying the style was made for export, while another name used was ruancai, meaning “soft colors”. These terms all refer to the color pallets that evolved from the Yoagzheng period of 1723-1735. Originally Famille Rose depicted figures and flowers with luster gold. This style later evolved into off-shoots or sub categories of the Famille Rose: 1) the “Rose Medallion” style of the 19th century, whose designs are distinctive for having four divided panels decorated in flowers, butterflies and birds; or 2) the Rose Mandarin which depicts figures, and even 3) the Rose Verte whose green glazes are coordinated with blue, red, and yellow. The rose colors in the glaze come from colloidal gold, and otherwise very rich in color and realistic in style.
The French term “Famille Verte” means “the green family", a group of porcelain with a green glaze incorporated into its decoration. This group of porcelain wares was developed during the Ming dynasty from multicolored decorations with translucent enamels, applied during secondary firings on glazed porcelain. By the end of the 16th century it began an evolutionary process into Kangxi wucai and what is recognized as Famille Verte. The colors are usually also include red, yellow, blue and black. Blue was first only used as an underglaze, but it later made possible to overglaze the blue which fully developed the ceramic.
A favorable aspect of famille verte is iridescence on top of the glazes, especially the blue enamels surrounding the enamels which are particularly evident around the blue enamels. This is described by Gotheborg as “… similar to oil on water and can be seen when the light falls on the glaze in a certain way.” Our lot 119 depicts fierce, highly detailed dragons, with one in verte; lot 92 shows an robed Emperor surrounded by advisers, where the subtle greens cause the eye to wander about intricate patterns of reds, blues and yellows.
Besides the manufacture of their own porcelain products, many of which were exported throughout Asia, Japan also imported porcelain wares from China, Korea and Southeast Asia. Relatively speaking, Japan came late to the manufacture of porcelain, with its beginnings in the Arita area in the 17th century. Most examples from this era were glazed in blue and white. Since then Imari wares have evolved into both bold and intricately designed examples whose 19th century color schemes are often dominated by the red toned iron oxide glazes for which they are popularly known. To this day, Arita is still considered the heart of porcelain production for Japan.
Porcelain was first made in some quantities as early as the 17th century with the establishment of a community of kilns in the Arita area of Japan. Wares were exported to China and Southeast Asia. Since then and even until today most porcelain wares of Japanese origin come from the Aria area, and therefore are called “Arita” or “Arita ware”.
Imari is the name often given as a general term to apply to any Japanese porcelain. The name actually comes from the port in Japan from where the Imari was shipped for export. In fact most all Imari examples are produced in Arita, so in that sense the terms are synonymous. Earlier Imari porcelain is actually blue & white only, sometimes overglazed with gold and enamels, a style derived from Chinese late Ming porcelain.
Shoki-Imari is the earliest Imari made, dating from 1620 to later when they began exporting to the Near East in 1659. These usually have a blue underglaze and were somewhat influenced by the Chinese taste depicted in their imports. Some collectors feel there is elegant charm in these designs, but they are not often easily found outside of Japan. This “Shoki” period of production was succeeded by the “Ko-Imari” period marked by the exporting of Imari directly to Europe. Export Imari is decorated with underglaze blue heightened with gold and red, and sometimes green and blue enamels in a style meant to appeal to the Western taste. This continued until 1757 after which all shipments were private.
Collectors today find the porcelains of the 19th century, the Edo (1800-1868) and Meiji (1868-1912) periods, collectable because of their highly decorative appeal. Most feature bold colorations, including iron oxide reds and deep blues with clear hard edged designs and pleasing forms of floras, birds, animals, and people.
Although earlier Imari are often objects of utilitarian use, 19th century Imari tends to have more decorative objects, such as the 15” vase shown in lot 188. Other examples such as lot 178 seem to mimic these exotic qualities with an exceptionally large 18” charger. Except for the rich use of colors, another example, lot 189a, which includes two Japanese in playful poses with a rice bowl and chop sticks, has an almost folk-art like quality.
Go to our website or click on one of the images in this blog or go to our website to look and read more about this interesting opportunity to collect high quality Chinese porcelains.
And…….good luck in bidding!
Gordon Converse
Netsukes were toggles used to solve an apparel problem for Japanese men. Since the Kimoto, or gown, had no pockets, a pouch for keeping money, tobacco, medicine or tinder was necessary and was hung from the man’s girdle. The string attached to the pouch was fit with an end device to secure the string: the Netsuke. The first Netsukes appeared in the Japanese Edo Period (1600- 1867), about 350 years ago. 
Netsuke became an increasingly popular focus for artistic expression, taking on a multitude of designs and forms. Later the simple carrying pouches evolved into a different accessory called the Inro, or medicine pouch. The bead between the Netsuke and Inro, used to secure the Inro, was the Ojimi. 
The need for Netsukes evolved from exclusive upper class Japanese, such as the Samurai, to include everyday tradespeople and farmers. As the demand increased, and artisans began creating ever more fanciful Netsukes and the art became more formalized. Fine Netsukes detailed, in miniature, depictions of a variety of animals, ordinary people, folk heroes or Gods as well as everyday objects. Materials such as ivory, hardwoods, ceramics and even metal were used their making. As years passed, competition for creating these engaging miniatures grew, reaching its peak in the early to mid-1800s; but then as the Kimono costume was replaced due to Western wear influences, demand decreased. 
Despite the decreasing demand for the useful aspects of these old fashioned devices, Netsuke are still eagerly sought today by art connoisseurs. In fact, the Japanese art of carving miniatures has become so popular that today fine ivory carving in miniature is still done, with recent examples lacking the telltale two connecting cord holes (known as himotoshi), one much larger than the other.
