Lantern vase

[Stan]

Hi Peter, here is a lantern vase I have, it is all hand drawn and the enamels are thick, it appears to have been drawn with a sharp object to get such fine lines, this is a very skilled artist, the size is 30.48 cm high and it has age signs, there are also nice dead bubbles, your expertise is appreciated, also I would like to point out that is is very thin porcelain.

[Stan]

Here are three more photo's.

[Stan]

And here are the last of the photo's, thanks for your help.

[peterp]

Hi Stan,

I would think about first quarter of 20th century, but not sure if it could be late Guangxu or early republic.
The green interior looks more like actual Qianlong (the green color is usually stronger if late Qing), but with the detail painting of faces, etc. it would have to be imperial, if Qianlong reign, which is unlikely. Thus I feel it is more likely from the period when face painting became more detailed.
Very nice quality.

[Stan]

Thanks Peter.

[Stan]

Hi Peter, the pictures do not look as good as it is, usually on reproductions the lines separating the cartouches and the waist and continuous swirle bands are single lines but on this vase they are double lines like you would see on Imperial porcelain, that plus the green and the dead bubbles makes me think this could be imperial, maybe it is just wishful thinking but I have had several of these in the past and this is not like any I have had the quality is unmatched, I will post a picture of the double lines and the dead bubbles, I will post the dead bubbles as soon as I hook the digital magnifier, none of the ones I have had in the post have had dead bubbles, that is not the only thing that points to Imperial, it has the worm back foot, although it is straight and not splade at all.

[peterp]

Please don't get obsessed too much with bubbles--not yet:)  We need to learn more about these. It is known that some dead bubbles did exist in the late Qing dynasty. This can be subject to many conditions during the firing or later. Basically, the dead bubbles are probably more usable for age-related evaluation from or earlier than the Ming dynasty. The problem is that not all glazes do have bubbles. Thus depending on the glaze age signs may differ. With some older glazes bubbles might beless important than other age signs like crystallization, etc. These can be seen only with higher magnification levels. Everybody seems to be still learning about such glaze age manifestations.

I will try to find some  typical Qianlong quality examples of imperial ware for comparison. You will be able to see the difference online. I doubt this item is up to Qianlong quality, despite the intricate painting. Qianlong quality is the best of the best. Some later reigns are more likely for this quality, but some private kilns wares are also like this. Anyway, if you have an opportunity, I would suggest to ask someone of a major auction house what they think.

[Stan]

Thanks Peter, Im sure you are right, but I will have it looked at and let you know for sure, thanks Peter.

[Stan]

Hi Peter, I found some examples of this vase on E-bay from a seller that sells New items from China, Im starting to think with dead bubbles and all that this vase is only a decade old or less, the examples I found had the same quality "not as detailed" but same size, shape, and similar decorations with the same green color on the bottom and inside, some of the green colors were even more convincing, I think I paid to much. So it looks like they have figured out how to duplicate the dead bubbles as well as Imperial Quality.                               

[peterp]

Hi Stan,
I have put a few links to polychrome items in the Qianlong imperial collection in the Water Cooler board; just to show quality of that period.
Unfortunately, for some reason linking to other items in the Palace Museum's database was not working for some reason, so I chose items in the digitalarchives website, which shows some of the museum's items online.

[Stan]

Thank you Peter, very nice, I notice that everything shown is all foliage, is there anything they have on display showing figures?

[peterp]

Yes, but the images are too small, with insufficient resolution, showing the details. I will see if I can find some.
I added more links in the Water Cooler board. Download the zip file if you want to see Qianlong reign imperial quality faces. In my view imperial quality is not decided by the people in a decoration, but by the quality and intricate details of the background, which often differs in style from those used by private kilns. Please compare some of the backgrounds with that on your vase.

[Stan]

Thanks Peter, I see what you mean " High Quality Painting" thanks for the Web site's.