Chinese Republic Porcelain in Sussex

1 The Forbidden City Beijing — The Forbidden City, Beijing

Mercantile trade was at the heart of British prosperity and overseas interests from the 18th to the 20th centuries. By the 18th century Britain had become the greatest European power in the East. This success was predominantly bound up with the government-licensed British East India Company, which had become the leading trading and political force in India.

2 A Chinese famille rose porcelain vase — A Chinese famille rose porcelain vase, early 20th century Republic period, auctioned for £76,000

3 A Chinese porcelain vase — A Chinese porcelain vase, early 20th Century Republic period, auctioned for £650

4 The Great Wall of China — The Great Wall of China

In the late 18th century attempts were made to establish official relations with China by Lord George Macartney. The lavish embassy sent to Beijing as part of this British Government-backed mission was interpreted as humble tribute-bearing by the Chinese. The response to George III from the Qianlong Emperor noted that trade was out of the question, since Britain possessed nothing for which China had the slightest need. There were, however, many Chinese traders who were prepared to do business unofficially with foreigners. The trade in opium from India, the Opium War and ensuing British military expedition in 1840 resulted in the Qing government ceding compensation, Hong Kong Island and the opening of five ports to British traders. Twenty million people died in the bloody Taiping Rebellion in southern China, a massive civil war against the ruling Manchu-led Qing dynasty, which lasted from 1850 to 1864. Invasion by Japan in the late 19th century and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 left the Qing dynasty severely weakened. A Chinese army rebellion in Wuchan sparked a series of mutinies culminating in the formation of the Republic of China in 1912, which would last in a series of guises until 1949. The last emperor, Puyi, was allowed to remain living in the Forbidden City in Beijing. The formation of the Chinese Republic brought to an end the Qing Dynasty and 2000 years of imperial rule.

As invasion and revolt continued to blight China during the early 20th century, porcelain of the most extraordinary quality continued to be made in Jingdezhen in the Jiangxi province. Some connoisseurs note this period of porcelain manufacture for its revival in quality, which they attribute to a number of schools and artists that emerged at this time. Chinese porcelain objects from this period often have inscriptions, usually in black enamel, which may include a combination of a poem, a signature or a cyclical date. Private workshops proliferated and flourished. The wares produced imitated designs from earlier periods, interpreting imperial designs to feed demand from American and British collectors like Sir Percival David. David’s collection includes many original examples of Chinese porcelain from the imperial collection, which can be seen at the British Museum in London.

We often discover Republic period Chinese porcelain in Sussex, which is finding increasing favour amongst collectors because of its quality. The early 20th century Chinese famille rose porcelain vase illustrated is from this period. The elongated ovoid body and flared neck are painted to one side with three birds perched on blossoming branches, to the other side with a gathering of children, elders and attendants beneath a pine tree. Note how these decorative panels are surrounded by lines of black text and red seals, typical of the Republic period. The vase is believed to have been painted by two leading artists from Jingdezhen. Measuring 60.5cm high, the vase sold at Toovey’s for £76,000.

Not all Chinese porcelain of this period is so highly valued. The smaller Republic vase shown here, height 17cm, sold for £650. It is enamelled with a riverscape with a fishing boat by an island and has the typical text on the reverse.

This flourishing and revival in Chinese porcelain manufacture in the early 20th century allows us to once again glimpse the energetic and creative gifts of the Chinese people, which has gained them cultural prominence over millennia. Perhaps it is a rediscovery of these gifts which is allowing a revival of Chinese interests in the world today; only this time they are looking out into the world and reacquiring their cultural heritage.

Toovey’s Chinese porcelain specialist, Tom Rowsell, is always pleased to offer advice, whether you are interested in selling or acquiring Chinese objects in this boom market. He can be contacted at our offices.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 29th January 2014 in the West Sussex Gazette.

The Japanese Art of Beauty and Restraint

A Chelsea porcelain hexagonal teapot and cover, circa 1750-1755, decorated in the Kakiemon palette.

European collectors of Asian porcelain from the 18th century to today have celebrated the technically and artistically superb production of Japan. Amongst the most influential styles is Kakiemon, produced from the late 17th century onwards. Kakiemon porcelain is typically lightly decorated with asymmetrical patterns, usually depicting landscapes or flowers; the delicate painting is of high quality. Whilst there is a consensus that the Kakiemon style was produced at numerous kilns, it is the famous milky-white ‘nigoshide’ body, produced at the Nangawara kiln in Arita, which is particularly revered by connoisseurs. These qualities are emphasised by the near-colourless glaze.

Kakiemon is named after Sakaida Kakiemon, an almost mythical figure in Japanese porcelain history, to whom this polychrome enamelled decoration is first attributed. This skill in enamelling is illustrated in the way that the body is never decorated with underglaze blue. Though rarely imitated in China, Kakiemon was a great inspiration to porcelain manufacturers in France, Germany and England.

From the 1720s and throughout the 1730s, copies of Japanese Kakiemon achieved popularity in Continental Europe and England. Meissen examples were inspired by the Asian ceramics collection of Augustus II, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. In 1717 Augustus acquired a small palace on the bank of the Elbe River in Dresden. It became known as the ‘Japanese Palace’ and was home to his extensive collection of Oriental ceramics, which included some 20,000 objects. Rooms on the second floor were reserved for examples from the Meissen factory, which he founded by royal decree in 1710. Although not completed during Augustus’ lifetime, the Japanese Palace remains one of the outstanding artistic achievements of the 18th century.

A Meissen porcelain circular saucer dish from the Japanese Palace, circa 1730, painted in the Kakiemon style.

A pair of Japanese porcelain dishes, late 18th/ early19th century, painted in the Kakiemon style.

The Meissen porcelain circular saucer dish illustrated dates from 1730 and was originally from the Japanese Palace. It is painted in the Kakiemon style with a gilt-enriched, iron-red tiger opposite flowering bamboo. The base is marked with crossed swords in underglaze blue and an incised and painted Japanese Palace inventory number, ‘N=ZZ5. W’. Measuring just 21.2cm in diameter and with a minor chip to the rim, the dish realised £5800 at auction in Sussex at a Toovey’s specialist sale of Continental ceramics.

At the Chelsea porcelain factory in England, the Kakiemon taste of 17th century Japanese porcelain was also notable from the early 1750s. In this instance, however, the influence was derived from Meissen. Chelsea’s Kakiemon pieces were characteristically octagonal in form, like the porcelain teapot and cover shown, circa 1750-1755. Note how the body is decorated in the Kakiemon palette with an asymmetrical design of blossoming prunus, bamboo and banded hedge, the reverse with a ho-o bird in flight. This example was unmarked and had restoration to the spout and metal reinforcement to the handle. Nevertheless, it realised £2200 in my recent specialist auction.

Perhaps surprisingly, late 18th and early 19th century examples of Japanese Kakiemon, like the pair of plates illustrated, can be acquired much more reasonably. Today, a pair of plates like this would carry an auction estimate of £300-500, though the finest examples are valued in the thousands.

Kakiemon porcelain, whether Japanese, Continental or English, has for over four centuries provided an articulation of beauty through its restrained depictions of flowers and exquisite use of polychrome enamels. Its style resonates with our contemporary taste and, whilst prices continue to rise, it still represents great value and opportunities for the collector. Toovey’s next specialist auctions of British and Continental porcelain and Oriental ceramics and works of art will be held on the 12th September and 10th October 2013.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 7th August 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.

V&A Cloisonne at Horsham Museum

Jeremy Knight and Philip Circus at the opening of Japanese Treasures

One of the jewels in the crown of Sussex heritage is Horsham Museum & Art Gallery under the passionate leadership of its curator Jeremy Knight. It has been my pleasure to work with Jeremy over many years, supporting both him and the museum. Over recent years Jeremy and his team have delivered a number of exhibitions worthy of national attention and this latest show ‘Japanese Treasures: Cloisonné Enamels from the V&A’ is very much of that calibre.

Japan was a society closed to the outside world for almost all of its Edo period (1600-1868) but American gunboat diplomacy by Commodore Perry in 1854 opened Japan to trade with the outside world. The Japanese were determined not to be a subjugated nation and during the Meiji period (1868-1912) they embarked upon a commercial and manufacturing revolution. Alongside this, Japan promoted herself through her cultural heritage at the international trade expositions which proliferated after the British Great Exhibition of 1851. Japan first exhibited at the Paris Exposition in 1867. On display was the brilliance of Japanese craftsmanship, including cloisonné wares.

Alan & Rupert Toovey — Rupert and Alan Toovey, directors of exhibition sponsors Toovey’s, at the opening

The majority of the cloisonné on display at Horsham has been generously given to the V&A by Edwin Davies, CBE, together with funding to enable the collection to travel and be exhibited. Such acts of patronage in our contemporary age deserve to be celebrated. The exhibition features examples of the very finest quality by leading makers like Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927).

Enamel is a vitreous substance like glass, which is bonded to a metal surface under heat. Cloisonné describes a particular decorative process where enamel is poured into compartments, known as cloisons, formed of a network of metal bands. The tops of the bands remain exposed, dividing one area of colour from another. It is thought that cloisonné arrived in China from Byzantium in the 14th century. The renaissance of the technique in Japan came in the early 1800s and developed quickly. By the 1870s the Japanese were able to produce wide areas of colour and intricate decorative motifs.

Many western travellers visited the studios of the cloisonné manufacturers. Among them was Sussex author Rudyard Kipling, who in his book From Sea to Sea and Other Sketches wrote of his visit to Namikawa Yasuyuki’s studio in the late 1880s: “It is one thing to read of cloisonné making, but quite another to watch it being made. I began to understand the cost of the ware when I saw a man working out a pattern of sprigs and butterflies on a plate about ten inches in diameter. With the finest silver ribbon wire, set on edge, less than a sixteenth of an inch high, he followed the lines of the drawing at his side, pinching the wires into tendrils and the serrated outlines of leaves with infinite patience… With a tiny pair of chopsticks they filled from bowls at their sides each compartment of the pattern with its proper hue of paste… I saw a man who had only been a month over the polishing of one little vase five inches high. When I am in America he will be polishing still, and the ruby-coloured dragon that romped on a field of lazuli, each tiny scale and whisker a separate compartment of enamel, will be growing more lovely.”

Japanese cloisonné by Namikawa Yasuyuki — Japanese cloisonné vase and cover by Namikawa Yasuyuki

Japanese cloisonné vase by Namikawa Yasuyuki

To find out why Namikawa Yasuyuki’s work is so revered, I turn to Toovey’s Oriental works of art specialist Tom Rowsell, who comments, “His technical ability and artistic sense for decoration, proportion and the form of the object is extraordinary. Take the signed vase and cover shown, finely decorated with flowers, trailing stems and floral mon on vari-coloured vertical cartouche panels. The decoration is perfect for the size and shape of the vase, which is only 10cm high.” Turning his attention to a later piece by Namikawa Yasuyuki, the 9cm-high vase also shown, Tom enthuses, “By the 1890s he was producing dark grounds, which required a much higher level of technical skill than the yellow and green grounds. I think the way the butterfly hovers above the purple and yellow flowers on that midnight blue ground is brilliant and the drama of the dark ground is heightened by the silver mounts.” Both pieces went under the hammer in specialist Oriental sales at Toovey’s, realising £4000 and £1700 respectively.

Toovey’s and I are really delighted to be supporters of this exhibition – the cloisonné on display is exceptional. It is a testament to Jeremy Knight’s skills and Horsham District Council’s support for the museum that we have this national exhibition here in West Sussex. ‘Japanese Treasures: Cloisonné Enamels from the V&A’ at Horsham Museum and Art Gallery runs until 22nd September 2013 and entry is free. I hope it will excite you as much as it has me. For more information visit www.horshammuseum.org

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 26th June 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.

Delicacy and Brilliance, Chinese Doucai Porcelain

By the mid-18th century, Chinese porcelain produced for imperial appreciation was at its height. The Qianlong period (1735-1795) overlapped with the reign of our own King George III. As the Industrial Revolution grew under the Farmer King in Britain, the processes and techniques of porcelain manufacture in China reached an advanced stage. This found expression in restrained decoration, characterized by delicacy and brilliance.

Among the favourite wares chosen by Chinese potters of the 18th century for inspiration or copying were those of the 15th century from the early Ming and Chenghua reigns. That they chose to copy earlier styles is reflective of general trends in Chinese art, which display a tendency to antiquarianism. Balancing this was the desire of Qing rulers to validate their own sovereignty and status through associating themselves with earlier reigns by invoking these earlier styles in the designs for their own imperial porcelain.

The Qianlong period seal mark — The Qianlong period six-character seal mark

On my recent visit to China I was fortunate to visit the Imperial Summer Palace, which was reconstructed after the ravages of the Anglo-French invasion of 1860 and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900. The gardens were originally commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor in 1749. Today, the gardens are enjoyed by thousands of Chinese and some foreign tourists. In the palace are rooms furnished with Qianlong period furniture and porcelain of the finest quality. They give an insight to the genius and restraint of Chinese imperial taste in the 18th century.

The piece illustrated is a Chinese doucai porcelain globular jar bearing the six-character seal mark of Qianlong. The body is decorated with slender stems of lotus, alternating with narcissus, over a lower frieze of the eight auspicious Buddhistic emblems, which include symbols representing eternal harmony, knowledge, purity and enlightenment. The third and lower tier is of flowers. All these decorative elements communicate with each other between a frieze of flame-like lappets and a ruyi-encircled rim. All are finely outlined in underglaze cobalt blue.

Rupert Toovey at the Summer Palace in Beijing — Rupert at the Summer Palace in Beijing

Doucai decoration first found favour during the Chenghua reign (1465-1487). The delicate cobalt-blue outline to all the coloured enamels defines doucai decoration and unites them with delicacy and brilliance. It can be difficult to discern the age of these doucai pieces. The specialist and connoisseur will look for differences in the cobalt blue of the outline, which often has a softer appearance on earlier objects. Later examples also fail to capture the charming ivory tint to the glaze of 15th century examples. Qianlong period examples, however, are celebrated for their translucent enamels, alive with colour, which are set off by the precision of the cobalt-blue outlines. We are left with the impression that they are at once fragile and precious.

These qualities are much in demand, particularly in imperial pieces. 18th century examples, like this jar, command high prices, especially when they bear their true reign mark, rather than copying an earlier reign mark. Measuring just 9cm high, this doucai vase sold at auction for £32,000 in a specialist Oriental sale earlier this year.

It is this combination of harmonious design and restraint, combined with the shear quality of the painting and execution, which never fails to delight me. Delicate and brilliant, doucai pieces take some beating in any century!

View Toovey’s Specialist Sales of Oriental Ceramics and Works of Art by clicking here.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 8th May 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.

The Chinese Influence Today

Chinese famille rose porcelain punch bowl, Qianlong period

I am fascinated how much we can learn from history and how objects speak across the centuries, providing us with a narrative for our own times. In the first of these columns I will be exploring the extraordinary impact of a resurgent Chinese economy in the collectors’ market in recent years and how its roots are in the 17th and 18th centuries.

We in the West should perhaps be unsurprised by the growth in the Indian and Chinese economies. Together these two economies account for some 14.7% of the global economy’s gross domestic product (GDP). The extraordinary progress of the Chinese economy in particular has made it a major player in markets as diverse as raw materials and antiques. Values for all things Chinese and collectable has mirrored this growth, transforming markets as prices have soared.

In the 18th century an East India Company Indiaman ship would order 30 tons of china of a standard and repeatable pattern. These bulk purchases were often of standard blue and white but provided important ballast just above the waterline, with tea and silks being stowed higher in the ship. There were strict regulations connected to these official imports.

Chinese famille rose vases — Pair of mid-19th century Chinese famille rose porcelain vases

More important were the private trade pieces, purchased on behalf of the crew by the company representative. They were of finer quality and included specially commissioned armorial, crested and initialled porcelains. Private order pieces also depicted European figures, like this Qianlong period bowl (pictured above), circa 1750, depicting hunting scenes, which I discovered in a collection in the west of Sussex two or three years ago. These items were purchased either to fulfil private commissions or would be sold through the East India Company’s auctions in London.

It is still these refined pieces which carry most favour among discriminating collectors in the market today and they are still being sold at auction, like this pair of mid-19th century Chinese famille rose porcelain vases, which realised £20,000 last year. Today, however, these objects are increasingly returning to China.

Demand from China on collectors’ markets is already having a profound effect. Imagine if, together with India, they recover their historic economic position. Between 1500 and 1850 AD, China and India accounted not for 14.7% but between 50% and 60% of the world’s GDP. It will be intriguing to see how their tastes develop and affect our market in the future.

By Revd. Rupert Toovey. Originally published on 20th March 2013 in the West Sussex Gazette.