Porcelain Archives - Antique Butterflies

Chinese Blue and White Porcelain

Antique Butterflies Admin — Tue, 29 Aug 2023 07:25:43 +0000

The first Chinese blue and white wares were produced as early as the seventh century in Henan province, China during the Tang dynasty, although only shards have been discovered. Tang period blue-and-white is more rare than Song blue-and-white and was unknown before 1985. The Tang pieces are not porcelain however, but rather earthenwares with greenish white slip, using cobalt blue pigments. Reference: Wikipedia

Below are some examples and price guides of antique Chinese blue and white porcelain including a Kangxi pot and a fine porcelain snuff bottle.

Chinese Blue and White Kangxi Pot and Cover,
1662-1722,
squat bulbous shape with metal handles and finial, underglaze decorated with a mountainous landscape with figures on one side, the reverse with a flower garden with insects, approx. overall dia. 8 3/4, ht. 8 1/4 in.

Sold for Sold for US$6,400 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2023

CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN YUHUCHUNPIN VASE, the body with raised decoration depicting sprays of flora and butterflies, the neck with a band of blue and white foliate decoration, six-character mark to base, 30cm high.

Sold for US$300 at Royal Sea LLC in 2023

FINE CHINESE BLUE WHITE ENAMEL SNUFF BOTTLE POEM QIANLONG MARK

This blue and white bottle is finely enameled and features a floral scene with a butterfly on one side and a poem on the other. There are also fine gilding touches. It bears the Qianlong mark and is 2.8 inches tall.

Sold for US$120 at Noble House Collection Gallery in 2023

A Chinese blue and white jar, Kangxi (1662-1722), of ovoid form, painted with precious objects, butterflies and flowers in shaped panels, 26cm high Condition Report: Signs of glue to rim.

Sold for £820 at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers in 2023

Blue And White Butterfly Pattern Holding Box, Kangxi Mark

Sold for CA$250 at Arnaud’s Auctions and Appraisals LIMITED in 2023

Rare Chinese Blue & White Porcelain Vase

Of tall baluster form, the exterior painted with birds, butterflies and gnarled tree branches, the bottom inscribed with six-character mark. Approx. 12.4-7 inch.

Sold for US$3,250 at Wealthier Art & Auction in 2023

Chinese blue and white bird and flower jar, of ovoid form, decorated with a pair of bulbuls perched in a peony bush with rockwork to the side and butterflies floating above, having no apparent mark.

Approximate dimensions: h. 11″, dia. 7″.

Sold for US$450 at Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery in 2023

A Pair of Large Chinese Porcelain Blue and White Table Lamps

contemporary, large ginger jars painted with birds, flowers and butterflies in blue, drilled and set into wood mounts as lamps with single lightbulb fixture, fabric lampshades, and decorative porcelain disc finials with blue landscape scene, label stickers remain to body of lamps.

Sold for US$375 at Leland Little in 2023

Blue and white vase with butterfly pattern of the Qing Dynasty

Sold for US$3,750 at YaShawn Auction House in 2023

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Polychrome

Antique Butterflies Admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2023 11:11:31 +0000

Polychrome is a word used to describe objects which are painted, printed or decorated in a variety of colors as opposed to monochrome decoration.

Below are some examples and price guides of polychrome antiques decorated with butterflies including a Bristol glass vase and a Qianlong snuff bottle.

Bristol Glass Hand Painted Vase,
England, 19th century,
light grey ground with polychrome enamel decorated birds, butterflies and flowers, ht. 16 1/4 in.

Sold for Sold for US$204 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2022

Set of Eight Edward F. Bodley Aesthetic Movement Gilt and Polychrome Decorated Porcelain Dessert Plates
Circa 1880-90
In the Japanesque style, variously decorated with flowers and butterflies in flight, against an ivory colored ground.
Diameter 9 1/4 inches.

Sold for $756 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle in 2022

A RARE ‘TWO BOY’ QIANLONG SNUFF BOTTLE
Chinese, Qing Dynasty, polychrome enameled porcelain. In the figural form of two young boys climbing a vine wrapped boulder above a butterfly, the underside having an iron red, four-character Qianlong reign mark to underside.
Bottle: 1 7/8 in. (4.76 cm.)
35 grams

Sold for US$100 at Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers in 2023

An antique Japanese Meiji Era brass and enamel vase. Circa: early 20th century. The baluster form vase is enameled with polychrome images of blossoming flowers and plants, and butterflies made in the Cloisonne technique on a black ground. Marked with an impressed stamp with Hieroglyphs on the bottom.

Sold for US$200 at Antique Arena Inc. in 2023

Antique Chinese porcelain planter decorated with polychrome enameled depictions of butterflies among flowers over a peach toned ground, completed by light blue and pink arch patterns in a band around the rim and foot.
Red character markings at the underside.
CIRCA: Early to Mid 20th Century
ORIGIN: China
DIMENSIONS: H: 11.75″ D: 14.5″

Sold for US$650 at Akiba Galleries in 2022

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Kakiemon

Antique Butterflies Admin — Sat, 24 Sep 2022 14:06:10 +0000

Kakiemon is a style of Japanese porcelain, with overglaze decoration called “enameled” ceramics. It was originally produced at the factories around Arita, in Japan’s Hizen province.

The style was quickly copied by the new European porcelain factories that appeared in the 18th century, such as Meissen in Germany, Chantilly in France and Chelsea in England. The Chinese also began to copy the style for Chinese export porcelain. By about 1760 it had largely fallen from fashion in Europe. Reference: Wikipedia

Below are some examples and price guides of Kakiemon antiques which have butterflies as part of their design including an octagonal bowl.

Two octagonal porcelain bowls
Hizen ware, Kakiemon type
Edo period (1615-1868), 18th century
Each painted in red, yellow, blue, green, and black enamels with a chocolate-brown rim, the first decorated on the interior with two Kanbun beauties holding sprays of flowers and blossoming peonies and chrysanthemums behind a brush fence, the exterior a squirrel on grape vines on a bamboo trellis and butterflies above flowers and rocks, the second decorated on the interior with flowering vines rising from a band of linked blossoms encircling the cavetto, the exterior with scattered cherry blossoms
8 1/2in (21.6cm); 8 3/8in (21.2cm) diameter

Sold for Sold for US$2,167.50 inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2021

Japanese Arita Kakiemon octagonal porcelain serving bowl. Deep bowl with flaring mouth-rim, Inside decorated with butterflies, Ho Ho bird, cloud and moon, flowers and leaves. The center is decorated with flowers surrounded by a doubled octagon. The mouth-rim has a cage-au lait enameling and next to that a band of flowers. The outside, flowers and bamboo trellis. Made by the Kakiemon Kilns. ca. 1725, 4 1/4″H x 8 3/4″diam

Sold for US$375 at Ripley Auctions in 2021

A KAKIEMON DISH

EDO PERIOD

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A KAKIEMON DISH

EDO PERIOD, LATE 17TH CENTURY

the shallow, circular dish decorated in iron-red, green, yellow, blue and black enamels with butterflies hovering beside tree peonies emerging from behind rockwork, chocolate rim

22 cm, 8 3/4 in. diam.

Sold for 15,120 GBP at Sotheby’s in 2020

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Chinese Porcelain

Antique Butterflies Admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 12:33:54 +0000

Chinese Porcelain. Porcelain was invented in China over a centuries-long development period beginning with “proto-porcelain” wares dating from the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). By the time of the Eastern Han dynasty (AD 25–220) these early glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain, which Chinese defined as high-fired ware. Reference: Chinese Porcelain: Art, Elegance and Appreciation (Arts of China) By the late Sui dynasty (581–618 AD) and early Tang dynasty (618–907 AD), the now-standard requirements of whiteness and translucency had been achieved, in types such as Ding ware. The wares were already exported to the Islamic world, where they were highly prized.

Eventually, porcelain and the expertise required to create it began to spread into other areas of East Asia. During the Song dynasty (960–1279 AD), artistry and production had reached new heights. The manufacture of porcelain became highly organised, and the dragon kilns excavated from this period could fire as many as 25,000 pieces at a time, and over 100,000 by the end of the period. While Xing ware is regarded as among the greatest of the Tang dynasty porcelain, Ding ware became the premier porcelain of the Song dynasty.

By the time of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD), porcelain wares were being exported to Europe. Some of the most well-known Chinese porcelain art styles arrived in Europe during this era, such as the coveted “blue-and-white” wares. The Ming dynasty controlled much of the porcelain trade, which was expanded to Asia, Africa and Europe via the Silk Road. In 1517, Portuguese merchants began direct trade by sea with the Ming dynasty, and in 1598, Dutch merchants followed.

Some porcelains were more highly valued than others in imperial China. The most valued types can be identified by their association with the court, either as tribute offerings, or as products of kilns under imperial supervision. Since the Yuan dynasty, the largest and best centre of production has made Jingdezhen porcelain. During the Ming dynasty, Jingdezhen porcelain become a source of imperial pride. The Yongle emperor erected a white porcelain brick-faced pagoda at Nanjing, and an exceptionally smoothly glazed type of white porcelain is peculiar to his reign. Jingdezhen porcelain’s fame came to a peak during the Qing dynasty. Reference: Wikipedia

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Underglaze Porcelain Butterflies

Antique Butterflies Admin — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 09:54:48 +0000

Underglaze porcelain butterflies. Underglaze is a method of decorating pottery in which painted decoration is applied to the surface before it is covered with a transparent ceramic glaze and fired in a kiln. Because the glaze subsequently covers it, such decoration is completely durable, and it also allows the production of pottery with a surface that has a uniform sheen. Underglaze decoration uses pigments derived from oxides which fuse with the glaze when the piece is fired in a kiln. It is also a cheaper method, as only a single firing is needed, whereas overglaze decoration requires a second firing at a lower temperature. Reference: Wikipedia

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Copper-red Porcelain Butterflies

Antique Butterflies Admin — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 08:35:30 +0000

Copper-red porcelain butterflies. Copper-red glazes are glazes containing copper which turn red when fired in a reducing atmosphere. The earliest known copper-red glaze occurs on wares made in Shanxi during the Tang dynasty. Jun kilns of the Song dynasty commonly used copper glazes. The sacrificial xianhong of the early Ming dynasty and its Qing dynasty copies, the Qing dynasty jihong (same but of the period), langyaohong, Peach-bloom and the Qing Jun red, which was really a monochrome red of the flambé type are all copper based red glazes. Reference: Gotheborg.com

Below are some examples of copper-red porcelain decorated with butterflies.

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Porcelain Vases

Antique Butterflies Admin — Mon, 11 Mar 2019 16:32:19 +0000

Porcelain Vases come in many shapes and sizes. Porcelain is a ceramic material made by heating clay-type materials to high temperatures. It includes clay in the form of kaolinite.

There is a distinction between hard-paste porcelain, fired at 1400 degrees Celsius, and soft-paste porcelain, fired at 1200 degrees Celsius. Bone china is soft-paste porcelain made from bone ash and kaolinite.

Porcelain originated in China, and ‘china’ is the common name of the product. By the Eastern LV Han Dynasty period (196–220 AD) glazed ceramic wares had developed into porcelain. Porcelain manufactured during the Tang Dynasty (618–906 AD) was exported to the Islamic world, where it was highly prized. Early porcelain of this type includes the tri-colour glazed porcelain, or sancai wares. Porcelain items in the sense that we know them today could be found in the Tang Dynasty, and archaeological finds have pushed the dates back to as early as the LV Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD). By the Sui Dynasty (581–618) and Tang Dynasty (618–907), porcelain was widely produced. Reference: Wikipedia

A MEISSEN AUGUSTUS REX FLARED BEAKER VASE, CIRCA 1730
Painted in Kakiemon style in polychrome enamels embellished in gilding with a landscape vignette depicting a stork-like bird flanked by fences with large branches of flowering indianische Blumen issuing from rockwork to its right and a smaller spray of flowers to the left, two birds and a butterfly in flight overhead, the lower body painted with four lappets, each with a chrysanthemum on an iron-red ground reserved with scrolling foliage, triangular green scale-ground panels between them, gilt band above foot rim, 34.6cm high, AR monogram in underglaze-blue (restoration to top section)

Sold for Sold for £ 22,750 (US$ 27,334) inc. premium at Bonham’s in 2021

A Chinese Blue and White Porcelain Wall Vase
18th Century
Of hemispherical form; decorated to show a butterfly amongst flowers.
Height 3 inches.

Sold for $693 (includes buyer’s premium) at Doyle in 2021

Qing Famille Rose Butterfly Porcelain Vase 8 3/8″H x 5 3/8″ W

Sold for US$550 at Ace Art Auction in 2022

A pair of gilt-bronze mounted porcelain gourd vases, the porcelain China 18th century, the mounts probably 19th century

Decorated with three small vignettes painted with butterflies to bulbous top of neck and with three vignettes to body each depicting landscapes, all on a blue ground

Height 9¼in; High. 24cm

Sold for 3,276 USD at Sotheby’s in 2021

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