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Apr 14, 2011
 republican vase
by: Stan

That is amazing if you are correct then that would be a great way to identify early republican porcelain, thanks for that information, I had know Idea that red and blue were not used together, thanks from Stan.


Stan, I am not completely sure about that, it just could be accidentally that way, or a perk of that specific artist(s). Like white the blue color is used sometimes for funeral related items, so it is considered more or less taboo for certain items...by the more superstitious.
Apr 13, 2011
 republican vase
by: peter

Hi Stan,
I think this could be 1920s or 30s. But, take this with a grain of salt. There is a good margin in this age definition.
It is just that the style, generally resembles the earlier republican painting style.
The text contains no cyclic date, as far as I can see. Republic vases often are dated. The porcelain painter's name is given, but I can only read Wang, the family name. Handwriting is sometimes difficult to read.

I just noted something odd. The girl with the fan wears red with a blue cape, and a blue star ornament in the hair. If the latter were white it would be clear...but could it be???
You should know that blue and red is not a frequent color combination used by Chinese. Red is considered auspicious, but blue the opposite. You will rarely find this combination in older porcelain.
What is even more puzzling is the star ornament on the hair of the lady with the child, on the other vase. It is a white star.

You should know that these colors could depict the flag of the Chinese Republic. While for communist China these are a thing of the past, they are still in use, in Taiwan. Taiwan's (the Republic of China) flag is the original flag of the first republic. Could it be that this is a concealed hint to indicate the republican government in those turbulent times? I noted these colors only after I saw the white star ornament on the other vase, which much resembles the star of the flag. If this was not intended, it would be a strange coincidence.

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