From our Southeast Asia Collection, a very attractive 5 piece Pagan-style lacquer hsun-ok (offering vessel) from the famed U Aung Myint workshop in Myinkaba Village, Pagan Burma (Myanmar), from which the British Museum has commissioned pieces for display in London. See Isaacs and Burton, Visions from the Golden Land, Burma and the Art of Lacquer page 222-223. We had the honor, privilege, and education of watching artisans in this famous lacquer workshop creating modern masterpieces in the yun st...

From our Southeast Asia Collection, an extremely fine and very attractive dome-shaped, two-piece lacquerware box from the famed U Aung Myint workshop in Myinkaba Village, Pagan Burma (Myanmar), from which the British Museum has commissioned pieces for display in London. See Isaacs and Burton, Visions from the Golden Land, Burma and the Art of Lacquer page 222-223. We had the honor, privilege, and education of watching artisans in this famous lacquer workshop creating modern masterpieces in the y...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a good teacup and saucer ex-Sotheby's, from the Ca Mau Cargo, Yongzheng Period (1723-1735), executed in the "Tu Hai" pattern in underglaze blue.

This particular teacup and saucer is a very good example that somehow managed to survive over two centuries under the sea, essentially unscathed. Shipwreck porcelain comes off the sea floor in a wide variety of conditions, with many pieces utterly destroyed, others cracked and chipped, others whole but enc...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a good blue and white teacup and saucer in the "Batavian Bamboo Pattern," ex-Christie's, from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to th...

From our Shipwreck Porcelain Collection, a fine blue and white dish, ex-Christie's, executed in the "Peony and Pomegranate Pattern" from the so-called "Nanking Cargo," which is the term applied to the porcelain recovered from the wreck of the Geldermalsen that sank on January 3rd, 1752. The Geldermalsen was a cargo ship belonging to the Dutch East India Company that struck a reef on its way back from Canton China, and sank off the coast of Indonesia in the Linnga archipelago. It took with it to...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a good ginger jar with "double shu" design bestowing "double happiness," late 19th century, either Tongzhi (1862-1874) or Guangxu Period (1875-1908).

Jars such as this current example were often given as gifts containing foodstuffs with the lids glued shut. As a result, many lids were broken upon opening and subsequently lost to history, which is why so many are seen without their original lids. It's always nice to find an example with its origin...

From our Japanese Collection, a fine pair of imari flared-mouth vases, Meiji Period (1868-1912), richly executed in the traditional imari palette of iron-red, blue, orange, and gilt highlights. A very decorative pair measuring 12 1/4 inches tall, 6 3/4 inches wide at the shoulder. While individual imari workshops usually did not distinguish themselves from one another in any meaningful way, nevertheless, known pieces with the particular kiln mark that appears on the bases here, are usually well-...

From our Japanese Collection, a fine and large mid-to-late 18th century blue and white porcelain dish, circa 1740-1780, painted in the Chinese style depicting a home with people on an embankment, a treed outcrop in the distance with geese flying overhead, and some unidentified structures in the foreground. The entire scene is surrounded by a border of characters, and all executed in a greyish blue on dense grey porcelain paste, typical of 18th century Japanese Arita ware. The back of the dish is...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a charming little export ware teacup and saucer, late Kangxi to Yongzheng Period (1700- 1735), with loosely painted floral motifs both on saucer and tea bowl, all executed in an attractive blue.

Size and Condition: Saucer 5 1/2 inches in diameter, teacup 3 1/4 inches across, 2 inches tall. Small nick to lip of teacup

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a rare Kangxi Period (1662-1722) porcelain dish depicting a stylized version of an earlier Ming Dynasty kraakware design, featuring an eight-sided buddhist wheel or star in the center medallion, surrounded by ogival panels of buddhist emblems, auspicious symbols, and swatiska motifs in the outer border.

Within the vast gamut of Kangxi blue and white wares in general, there is a much smaller sub-category of Kangxi wares that were made in imitatio...

From our Southeast Asia Collection, a vibrant and highly decorative Indonesian batik in the form of a village scene with figures, from Yogyjakarta (Indonesia), executed in rich turquoise, black, brown, straw color, and other earth tones, and signed by the artist.

Batik is one of many methodologies of fabric decoration employed in Indonesia's long and rich textile tradition. Those unfamiliar with the process will not immediately recognize how the designs are rendered, but it is essentially ...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, an extremely well-painted pair of Qianlong Period (1736-1795), "soft paste" porcelain dishes, depicting what is probably a tea merchant's house on the bank of the Pearl River in Canton, including the typical "river scene" elements of bridges, water, land masses, and distant mountains, all executed in an especially vibrant blue, with an ornate border richly decorated in a combination of butterflies, ruyi head, and cash diaper motifs.

The design o...

From our Indian Subcontinent Collection, a truly delightful little enameled silver box from Jaipur, Rajasthan (India), featuring a very attractively painted elephant in regal attire, executed in turquoise blue against a purplish blue background, with floral motifs in green and gold around the borders and on the sides, all executed upon high grade silver.

There is a plethora of arts and crafts throughout the Rajasthan region, and the different cities there tend to have a few art forms in p...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a fine Qianlong Period (1736-1795) sauce tureen base of rectangular form with chamfered corners, depicting a gentleman with ladies on a fenced terrace pavilion along with a flowering tree, surrounded by an intricate border design of cash diaper motifs, key frets, and flower sprigs, all executed in deep blue upon a body of dense 18th century export porcelain.

This particular example is quite unusual due to its subject matter. While in various inc...

From our Chinese Blue and White Collection, a good Ming Dynasty kraakware dish, late Wanli Period circa 1600-1620, of well-known and documented form, executed in Border VIII style with a central bird some scholars opine is either a magpie or a duck, sitting upon a lotus pond outcropping and encircled by a ten-point buddhist star, further encircled by ten ogival panels of buddhist symbols in the outer border, all executed in a slightly greyish blue on a barbed-form dish with slightly upturned lip...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a very good Qianlong Period (1736-1795) Famille Rose porcelain dish, depicting a domestic scene of a husband, wife, and child sitting upon a bench, while their servant plays fetch with the family dog, all well-painted and better than average for typical export ware. The skill of the painter is evidenced here by amongst other things, the skillful use of shading in the blue, green, and pink enamels of the folds of the clothing to create depth and texture. Th...

From our Japanese Collection, a very fine ivory carving, Meiji Period (1868-1912), probably Tokyo School but we cannot confirm the artist, depicting an elder carrying a rabbit in a basket along with a young boy who excitedly holds up a frog. The scene is expertly rendered as evidenced in the animation and excitement of the young boy's face, the expressiveness of the elder, the detail to the basketry, as well as the flow and fold to the robing, and the realism of the rabbit, the frog, and the eld...

From our Chinese Polychrome Collection, a charming and unpretentious Famille Rose teacup and saucer, Qianlong Period (1736-1795), most likely late Qianlong 1760-1785, decorated in a delicate floral pattern in Famille Rose palette, with a Batavian Brown (iron oxide) dressing on the reverse.

Size and Condition: The saucer is 5 inches in diameter, the teacup 2 7/8 inches across, 1 1/2 inches tall. Small inconsequential nick to footrim of teacup essentially perfect.