Hi Peter, I purchased these at the local auction, I did not pay much for the pair, they were auctioned as republic vases, most of the decoration is hand painted with reverse painting on both vases and there is some areas that look like the out line could be transfer, can you tell if it is transfer or painted with a pointed object and how old would you say these are, they do look like they have some age to them, thanks for your help.
Here are some more photo's to view, the hight of the pair is 45.8 cm.
Last photo to view, thank for your expertise.
Hi Stan,
The outlines of the head wear and flower petals seem to indicate transfer printed outlines, but the faces, etc. seem to be hand-painted.
However, the combination of colors gives the impression of a later item, possibly later in the 20th century. You cannot rely on the crackling alone... crackles can easily made to develop with modern kilns.
Hi Peter, I believe that it was the 60's that the Chinese started drawing faces that look more realistic, I would have thought these a little earlier than late 19th century because of the way the faces are drawn, under a loop there are rust spots and the base to on the other vase has nice pitting in the glaze on the bottom, I know all these things can be faked, at least I did not pay much for them, Thanks Peter.
Normally, I would attribute the faces to about Guangxu. However, the single picture where both vases are visible, show clothes' colors that are a bit too unusual for the Qing dynasty.
Nowadays, a visit to one of the jade markets here, where they also sell porcelain (there used to be genuine porcelain antiques on sale too) is very revealing about the state of current fakery. Painting quality is sometimes surpassing the real antiques. It's getting more difficult all the time.
Not only are some the New porcelain surpassing the old in quality but also in some cases in value as well.