Chinese Famille Rose Bowls, ca. 1840
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GUEST:
I had a great-uncle and a great-aunt. They passed them down to my dad, and when my dad passed away, they ended up in my hands.
APPRAISER:
So these are bowls, it's a pair, and they're really unusual. Because if you look at them, you see that they're not flat surfaces.
GUEST:
Right.
APPRAISER:
These are molded surfaces. And it's in a fretwork molded pattern.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And in the midst of that we have these circular roundels. You can see how delicate the painting is, how fine the gradations of color. And the mixtures of enamel decoration, with what we call iron red, you see the little red there?
GUEST:
Oh yeah, yeah.
APPRAISER:
That's from iron. And then we also have gilding going around on the outside. That's gold. In the West, we use the term china as synonymous with dinnerware and fine quality porcelain. Because China was the place that porcelain like this developed. And there's particular materials that go to make that ceramic body that's translucent and very durable that made it so special. And all of this came out of one place in China, Jingdezhen. And it's where the Imperial Porcelain Manufacturing Center was located. These would have been used for eating. Not as everyday kind of wares.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
But for a very wealthy person. These would have been used for special occasions. So it's a mixture of functionality and art. And we're lucky in that this pair of bowls has a mark. And the first character is "da," second one is "Ming," and the third and fourth are "Cheng Hua." And then the last two say "made in." Made in the great Ming dynasty, the Chenghua period, 1464 to 1487.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
These were made at a later date, but they were looking back to this important period of time when Chinese porcelain reached an apex of perfection.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
And this is an honorific mark meant to convey that these are equal in quality, and they are superb quality. I believe these date to the mid-19th century. And they would have been made in the same place as those other Imperial wares.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
Now, the bases are made of wood. They were not made at the same time as the bowls. The style of these stands fits perfectly into the timeframe of 1930 to 1950. And these were made in Asia, brought out of Asia likely with the bowls in the same period of time. Conservatively, I think they're worth $15,000 to $25,000 at auction.
GUEST:
(sniffling) Wow. (laughs) That's all I can say. I... do you know how many times I've moved these bowls? I have moved so many times. And they... they probably have been on ten moves, and I'm so happy they made it. (laughs) Thank you so much. I just can't believe that. (sighs) Wow. (laughs)
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