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PETER IS THIS AN IMPERIAL KANGXI BRUSHPOT OR LATER COPY ?

by Andrew & Victor
(Tasmania)

Hi Peter,
I told a young Chinese friend of mine about your great website.
Both of us are enthusiastic, but amateur, collectors of Chinese porcelain.
He has a brushpot which he thinks could be of Kangxi reign, but I think it looks a bit newer, but we really do not know for sure how old it could be.

Could you help us?

The brushpot is large, has a slightly flared shape near the base & measures 160 mm.s high by 204 mm.s wide.
It has a wall thickness of about 10 mm.s & weighs about 2.65 kg.s
The painting is done in both underglaze blue & red.
The clear glaze has a distinctive greenish tinge to it.
The mark is slightly recessed & is pencilled under the glaze.
Exhibits some ash spots, around the outer top of the rim only & oddly, only around the outer bottom of the base.
The outer glaze surface is quite shiny & it has an eggshell-type texture.
Under a 10 X jeweller's loupe, the brushpot does not have any visible cracks,scratches,crazing, warping,pinholes, iron spots or other signs of age that we can see.

The base has not been cleaned with acetone so we don't know if the dirt/ color is genuine.


Peter, could you possibly estimate a time of production for this piece, as we know, that there are many new, expensive copies, of these very rare genuine pieces for sale at present.

Can supply more images if you wish.

with much appreciation & gratitude,
Andrew & Victor.

Comments for PETER IS THIS AN IMPERIAL KANGXI BRUSHPOT OR LATER COPY ?

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auction
by: peter

I assume you are talking about a local auction or small auction house?
It is necessary to be careful with these. They often don't have the necessary expertise to identify even the more common fakes. I have seen things being auctioned which I know were mass produced.
Hope the item wasn't too expensive.
THANKS PETER FOR THE ASSESSMENT
by: Andrew & Victor

Thanks Peter for this assessment.
You're knowledge is quite astounding & we will endeavour to try & learn about correct decorations.
Wish us luck, as I think this & other aspects of Chinese porcelain will take many years to become familiar with.
Alas, Victor bought this piece at auction, so it's a lesson learned the hard way which he won't soon repeat.
Thanks again for your assistance.
regards & respect,
Andrew & Victor.
brush pot
by: peter

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for introducing the site to other interested collectors.
Actually, I wanted to ask you for more, detailed pictures, but then I saw something that in my view tells clearly what it is.
(1) You are right in what you seem to think about the bottom. Almost every experienced collector will immediately judge the item to be a fake, because that dark color is usually added for making an item look old. In 90% or more of all cases this color means a fake.
(2) The blue color (color tone) would be unlikely from the Kangxi period.
(3) The decoration is the final blow, I'm afraid.

Did you note that the conical hat one of the men has on his head?
That is the hat of a Qing dynasty official. The only type of porcelain that I know of with Qing attire (hats) is export fencai porcelain from the Qianlong period. That was made for export exclusively, I believe on request of the Europeans. And, I have seen it only on fencai porcelain, not on blue and white or underglaze blue one.

All people on Qing dynasty porcelain were painted with Ming dynasty attire/hats throughout the Qing dynasty. The export porcelain mentioned above is the only example of this, at least in minyao porcelain.

In view of the above I have to conclude that this item is new or recently made. I don't think with that decoration it could be from any later time in the Qing dynasty.

PS: Ming dynasty hats (official hats) are usually painted with "wings" or long, thin flaps standing out at the sides. There was never a conical official hat before the Manchus, as far as I know.

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