Trying to id Grandmother's lamp

Kent_Tolley · May 30, 2014, 05:42:20

She would have purchased it in San Francisco from 1900 to about 1920. When I rewired it I noticed that it has extremely thick walls for a vase. They were about 3/8" thick. I will post the pictures I took to help identify this lamp.

Anthony · May 30, 2014, 16:39:30

Hello Kent Tolley,

The shape of this particular vase appears to be a form called "moonflask". The glaze looks like "longquan celadon", which is rare for moonflask. Most likely an export ware. If possible, would you take pictures of the foot rim to determine its age.

Kent_Tolley · May 30, 2014, 21:20:57

Thank you Anthony - Here is a photo of the bottom of the lamp. I would need to disassemble the lamp to see the entire foot and inside the vase. This could be done if necessary. Can you tell from this photo what you're looking for? When I wired it I didn't know about the age marks talked about on this forum so I didn't look inside the vase for any of them. But the two dimples on the side and the one rust(?) spot which looks black are visible. Thank you for the information you shared.

Kent_Tolley · May 30, 2014, 21:29:30

On this site it is difficult to find the forum. I've been all around the site and still have difficulty going directly to the forum.
What about a button that says forum and takes you to the forum. Instead that button takes you to a page of explanation and rules.
Then from that page you may find a link to the forum is you're lucky but you can easily miss it as well. Even when you find it it does not necessarily take you to the front page and main entry to the forum.

admin · May 31, 2014, 07:45:57

The linking is intentional and began when moving to the new forum. It was intended to force new posters to read the rules, which many never did bother to do. That resulted in many posts that did not concern the core problems of identifying antiques.

Anyway, that is on the list of things to do with the next modification of the forum.

peterp · May 31, 2014, 07:50:14

The additional picture of the bottom seems to point to a late 19th century or 20th century item. The glaze is too shiny and smooth for something older, in my view. The dimples are from manufacturing and, although not seen anymore in todays porcelain, it is sometimes present in republic porcelain of earlier times.
BTW, not sure about that, but the floral decoration does not look very traditional...

Anthony · May 31, 2014, 09:59:37

I agree with Peter - I believe it is a 20th century piece as the glaze is too shiny and smooth to be consider something manufacturer earlier. Early handmade porcelains are not smooth by touch. Quality control was difficult before. All depends on the right temperature fired in the kiln. At different location with different temperature, it was a challenge to control the final production.

Kent_Tolley · Jun 01, 2014, 02:15:01

My grandmother grew up in San Francisco before the turn of the century. She married there in 1903 and lived on Nob Hill near to Grace Cathedral. I expect she purchased this in Chinatown as early as 1903 but most probably some time later but before 1929 and the crash. After that she would not have spent money on this as she lived a frugal life, esp during the Thirties. From my reconstruction of her life and the times this would have been purchased as early as 1903 but most probably between 1915 and 1929. So I'm guessing it is about 100 years old and now qualifies as an antique.

All of this agrees with Peter's estimation of its age. But still I want to know where in China it came from and what kind of artisans made it?
What kind of shade is appropriate for this lamp? The harp is new but I expect there was one originally.

I am guessing its worth is in the $300 - $500 range. The sentimental value to me is greater than that and I would never sell it.
I love living among the old furnishings, prints, bookends, mirrors and photographs of my ancestors.
Any information you could give me on this lamp makes it all the more precious to me.
Thank you all for your help.

Kent_Tolley · Jun 01, 2014, 02:18:13

The handles of the flask are some kind of animal. Is it a dragon? Sea serpent? Porpoise?
And what is the significance of whatever animal it is?

Anthony · Jun 01, 2014, 02:30:39

Every antiques have a bit of history attached, particularly family heirlooms regardless its current value. Celadon is one of the most popular form of ceramics since Song Dynasty (960-1279). It's still produce today. Very few early pieces with private mark. It's not easy to determine who's the artisan. For certain, we can acknowledge that early celadon were manufactured in the municipal region of Lishui City in the southwest province of Zhejiang in China.

As far as the type of shade for the vase, I would use a roundish shade that fits for moon shaped vase. Not too big nor small; about the size of the vase. Trust your eyes, play around and follow your instinct.

Anthony · Jun 01, 2014, 02:32:22

Fish handles are common. I can't tell because of the thick applied glaze.

Kent_Tolley · Jun 01, 2014, 21:18:15

Foot

Kent_Tolley · Jun 01, 2014, 21:41:17

other views of the vase alone

Kent_Tolley · Jun 16, 2014, 00:08:59

Thank you all. I always wondered why the carving was so subtle and without a definite edge and what that means.
Reading Anthony on the handles and not being able to id the animal because of the thick glaze, I know now why the carvings are subtle. It is the thick glaze this vase has. That is something I didn't know before and will help me learn more about it. What does such a thick glaze mean? Does it give a clue or confirm any conclusions we have already arrived at? What does the foot of this vase indicate?