Provenance

As they say, little knowledge is dangerous knowledge! It would indeed be an understatement to say that m-a-n-y who have but seen a couple of Chinese Porcelain exportware claim expertise on the subject.

I have been collecting Porcelain for the past 8 years and I have a few - what I think are - genuine antiques. But I know that I have hardly scratched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowledge on the subject.

One person I have come across who is surely an authority on the subject is JP O'Brien.

Here is an interesting article from him about Provenance.

Read on...

[Quote]

PROVENANCE is a very interesting topic. I thought it might be a good idea to cover it at some length. Be it for insurance purposes, selling, purchasing, or trading, it is an important factor.

Unless a piece happens to be very well documented, it's extremely difficult to claim a provenance which would be accepted by either the major auction houses or reputable dealers. I suspect that a fair percentage of the fine porcelain in many museums and private collections is not authentic. Without the documentation to support provenance claims, the only way to authenticate would be TL testing, and many items are too small and fragile for this destructive method of dating. This is of course to the advantage of the museums, the auction houses, dealers, and of course to the owners.

Those small round authentic looking stickers such as are seen on the back of Sotheby's and Christies pieces, sometimes showing the Lot Number, are backed up with documentation and receipts from previous sales and/or ownership.

Those custom stickers are available to anyone. Some dealers I am sure have them made to give their wares that authentic look. There's nothing wrong with that. Just don't confuse the little round stickers with provenance, unless of course the name happens to be Eskenazi, Chait, David, Palmer, etc.

Some dealers will claim the provenance as being ............. themselves. To me that seems a bit egotistical. Especially when looking at the definition of the word provenance.

Provenance
n: Where something originated or was nurtured in its early existence;
"the birthplace of civilization" [syn: birthplace, cradle, place of origin]

Provenance \Prov"e*nance\,
n: [F., fr. provenir to originate, to come forth, L. provenire. Cf. Provenience.]
Origin; source; provenience. Their age attested by their provenance and associations.

Anyone declaring themselves as sole provenance, are in fact saying "This is new." which, in their case, is quite possibly true. Provenance should go back many, many years. True provenance should include generations of owners, documentation on loans to museums, published articles of exhibits, and, if possible, archeological records if unearthed from an excavation site. It should not mean a quick trip to Kinko's to have some stickers made.

I've been asked at times what the value is of certain pieces in my collection. I am a true collector, authenticity is my main concern. I collect for beauty, I don't sell. I can sit and hold an old Ming bowl for hours, running my fingers over the surface feeling the flaws and cracks of age. There is a certain feel to an authentic piece which includes a warmth to the touch from handling. It's like the piece is actually responding. As to the provenance of the pieces in my collection, luckily I started collecting about thirty years before the advent of the Internet. Several of my pieces are from the collection of the late John Alexander Pope (Smithsonian), also from the Freer Gallery art collection. Several pieces made their way to me directly from excavation sites. Several resulting from the Three Gorges Dam project in China. Some are from years of exploring small out of the way shops. Some are directly from shipwreck sites, and some from eBay. I have no stickers, no documents other than what I've stated.

Speaking of the Three Gorges Dam project, it's no wonder that there has been an increase of authentic artifacts available to the world market over the past several years. A total of 13 cities, 140 towns, and more than 1,600 villages were submerged. Nearly 1.5 million people were displaced. The tremendous amount of excavations along the Yangtze River for this mammoth project unearthed many sites with artifacts. An unprecedented rash of looting took place which overwhelmed government officials who were trying to prevent it from happening. It was a race against time for both the officials and the looters. Though I am against looting, in this case I am thankful that at least some artifacts were saved versus being destroyed and lost forever.

If you've taken the eye-opening tour down the side streets of Jingdezhen that I offer on my main page, you have to question how many of the perfect pieces in the major art catalogues and galleries are authentic. Though the production of fakes has been going on for centuries, it exploded in the late 20th century for obvious reasons of profit and is now totally out of control. The simple economics of supply and demand.

As time goes by, I feel more and more comfortable with the path I took over 40 years ago. That path was the decision to collect beautiful pieces of Chinese porcelain with unquestionable signs of authenticity such as cracks and visible wear. A trait that excluded both them and me from the high dollar market, yet made them affordable. I encourage the reader to do the same. With the exception of just a few pieces in my collection, there is absolutely no question whatsoever to the authenticity, at least to me.

The day will come when the market has become so saturated with fakes that attention and demand will begin to rightfully focus on pieces that exhibit true signs of authenticity.

Research that little sticker before you buy........

JP
[Unquote]

Happy New Year
Joseph Ponnou

How do you know this is original?

As an ardent collector of Antique Chinese Porcelain items, I am often asked the question: "How do you know this is original?"

This is a very valid and pertinent question, but, as all Chinese Porcelain collectors will agree, I wish the answer was so straight forward or easy.

After collecting Chinese Porcelain for over 8 years as of now, I still feel that I know very, very little on this subject. Let me make an attempt to answer this question as I see it personally!

Let us start with the basics: (in a lay man's language)

Chinese Porcelain / Ceramics / Pottery / Earthenware have existed for THOUSANDS of years. The techniques of the Chinese potters challenged and baffled counterparts from all other parts to such an extent that European Porcelain was invented only a couple of hundred years back. Naturally, the latter is much easier to identify in terms of origin, age and estimated value.

Chinese Porcelain has commanded such a huge demand, interest and price over the years, that there has been a huge influx of fake Chinese Porcelain products. This by itself has become a flourishing business and several companies have established themselves in China to produce export ware, thanks to encouragement from innumerable people from all over the world who think that they can buy an original Imperial ware for a couple of hundreds and become rich overnight by selling it for a couple of million dollars. Sure, there have been instances where this has come true, but also true is the fact that even products purchased for millions have turned out to be clever fakes.

Not all ‘non-original’ products are fakes, though. It has been a common practice among the Chinese potters to re-create earlier patterns, shapes, colours and seal marks as a symbol of respect to the Dynasty, Emperor or even the potter of those days. Such non-original porcelain items are also very collectible and should well delight collectors who are not insistent on collecting only authenticated pieces.

What are the methods to validate the products age?:

When it comes to Chinese Porcelain, several methods are used to find the age of the product.

Following is an indication of some such methods, not necessarily in the order of sequence:

Look, Touch & Feel: With time and experience, you come to trust your own personal instincts about whether a particular porcelain item is new, old or made to look old.

Colour, Shape, Size, Designs & Patterns: These are fairly unique to each period and help in determining the age of the product. Needless to say, the manufacturers know this and they take all this into consideration to fool their potential buyers.

Bubble Patterns: Use of appropriate microscopes reveal the bubble formation within the material. By comparing it to the technology that was used in each period, the time it used to take for the material to ‘set’ and the relevant bubble patterns that would typically form, it is possible to determine the age of the product. However, this method is also not foolproof because old kilns have been refurbished to make porcelain items in the recent years and use of the same technology as in those days can produce the same kind of bubble patterns.

Thermo-Luminescent Testing: Till date, this is the only method that has been scientifically accepted as the best method to determine the age of Pottery, Porcelain, Stoneware and Bronze items. The method involves collecting a sample of the material by drilling a small hole and passing it through a thermo (heat) and luminescence (light) test. This method is (a) not suited for all types of porcelains and may create damage to the product during the drilling procedure; (b) is done only by a handful of labs worldwide and (c) costs around US$ 800 for each item, thus making it impractical for common or general use. More importantly, despite being the most accepted scientific system so far for determining the product’s age, even TL testing is not 100% foolproof. The counterfeiters keep track of all such developments and come up with innovative means to counter such testing methods too. It is not unknown that even products that sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars at major international auctions were eventually proved to be – yes – f-a-k-e!

So, how can one collect Antique Chinese Porcelain?:

Here are my personal tips:

Decide whether you want to be a Collector or an Investor. If you want to be a collector, apply the following rules:

Decide whether you like the product. Do you find it appealing? Is it something you would like to own? Do you think that it matches the details / age as told by the seller?

Decide whether the price quoted is within your reasonable budget. Remember, you are a collector, so do not buy a product with a notion to sell off immediately and make big money. If this was so easy, all antique dealers would multi billionaires! Buy only if you feel that the price is justified even if the product is a fake. Also consider that if the product was 100% original – say from the Ming Dynasty, it would probably be in a museum or with some professional & rich collector or would probably sell for a few million dollars.

Feel-out the seller. Is the seller a collector too? Or is he/she a quick-buck maker? Do you trust him/her? Note that it is quite possible that this seller may be have inaccurate information about the product, but the information he/she gives you must be sincere and genuine from their point of view.

Learn on the subject as much as you personally can. Read books. Participate in forums. Seek out subject matter experts and ask for their counsel and opinions.

Do not invest in very high priced items unless you are personally comfortable with your own passion, knowledge and experience on Chinese Porcelain.

I wish you all the very best in your collections.

Joseph Ponnou
27th September 2006

Favourites from my personal collections

While I am almost intimated by the 'huge' collections of some of my friends and contacts, I guess I have not done so badly myself for a small-time collector.

My favourites from among my personal collections are displayed at http://ponnou.smugmug.com/gallery/1175928

Do excuse the presence of some items other than chinese porcelain in the above picture gallery.

Learned friends are invited to please educate me further on the age and origin of the items displayed.

Have a great time,
Joseph Ponnou

Calling Experts' Opinions

One of our readers, Joanne, writes: [Quote] I believe I have Chinese artifacts from a shipwreck but I'm not sure which one My uncle, while in world war 2, sent many items home. His attic was gradually filled with beautiful treasures. He is now deceased and some of these treasures were passed on to me. [Unquote]

While this blog is not for the purpose of offering authentication or identification services (even my own personal collection have not been presented), this lot seems interesting enough to be presented for viewing and comments by our experts.

Please visit http://ponnou.smugmug.com/Arts%20and%20Crafts to view the items. Click the image to proceed further.

Click "Comments" below to provide your inputs.

Best wishes,

Joseph Ponnou
http://www.ponnou.com

Antique pottery from Asian Shipwrecks_Earthenwares

Earthenware is the earliest type of pottery known to have existed for 10.000 years. Secondary clay was formed on the wheel or rolled into strings, laid on top of another to form the pot. Earthenware's were commonly fired in simple open pits and therefore found in most of our old civilizations. Firing temperature normally reached 400 to 700 degree Centigrade but some types are know to have been fired at higher temperatures.

Decorations was often limited to cord marks, made by pressing a cord into the wet clay. Elaborate cord patterns was similar in many coutries and over wide areas and therefore difficult to assign to a specific place.

Most of the earthenwares found on 14 - 16 th century shipwreck usually contains some remnants of food or other on board necessities. The limited number found suggst that earthenwares were never made for export.



Sten Sjostrand
http://www.mingwrecks.com
http://www.maritimeasia.ws/

Antique pottery from Asian Shipwrecks

Antique pottery from Shipwrecks in Asian waters, its proper archeology and research provide more data about China's and Southeast Asia's maritime trade. This include the ship's Earthenware, its trade goods of Underglaze pained wares, unique Yixing teapots, famous Celadon and the ever popular Chinese Porcelain.



Read more about each of these in the following posts.

Sten Sjostrand
http://www.mingwrecks.com
http://www.maritimeasia.ws/

Character Placement

Source: With permission and courtesy: http://www.earlyming.com/

Chi'ing Reign Marks

Source: With permission and courtesy: http://www.earlyming.com

Ming Reign Marks

Source: With permission and courtesy: http://www.earlyming.com

Time Capsules

Historical shipwrecks with cargoes of porcelain and pottery are perfect time capsules. Frozen in time, they provide an accurate insight into antique pottery from specific times in history; - the date when the ship was lost. From these shipwrecks we can study shipbuilding designs, construction methods and then cross-refer with pottery that was made and traded at these different times in history.

From the shipwrecks and the archeology made, we understand how the early Chinese monopoly on ceramic export was challenged in the 14th - 16th century by two rivaling Thai kiln complexes, each making different types of traditional Chinese pottery. It also becomes clear that the Chinese regained its monopoly in the 17th century when the Europeans entered into the Asian trade network.

THE VALUE OF SHIPWRECKS, ARCHEOLOGY AND RELATED ANTIQUE POTTERY

Shipwrecks which remain undisturbed on the seabed for centuries provide vital information about the past. The challenge of archeology is to understand the past by studying material traces. On land, archaeologists may excavate burial sites, lost monuments or deposited waste. At sea, marine archaeologists may excavate ships fully loaded with today's antique pottery. Object on board are usually assumed to be contemporary products dating from the year of sinking. Antique pottery recovered from such dated assemblages in the South China Sea, yield important clues about Asia's ceramics developments and associated maritime trade.

TIME CAPSULES

Dating antique pottery from production or burial sites often gives conflicting results. Neither stratigraphy nor scientific dating is problem free. Items included in burials are particularly likely to be some years old by the date of internment. Ceramic cargo found on shipwrecks is however likely to be contemporary. Scientific, stylistic and historical analysis are all relevant for dating. Cross-referencing the results of related shipwrecks can make the resultant puzzle more complex, but ultimately allow dating with greater precision.

"As time capsules, each with content deposited at a single moment in time, these are more valid as dating evidence than are decades of scholarly guesswork based on unprovenanced museum collections" (Asian Ceramic Research Organization)

The shipwrecks discovered, investigated or excavated by Nanhai Marine Archaeology are represented in the "Malaysian Maritime Archaeology Exhibition" at the National Museum in Malaysia. All the findings are published in a catalogue: Maritime Archaeology and Shipwreck Ceramics in Malaysia, published by the Department of Museums and Antiquities in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (Feb. 2002).

Sten Sjostrand
http://www.mingwrecks.com
http://www.maritimeasia.ws/