Qianlong-Style Vases, ca. 1920
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GUEST:
My husband and I bought them at the antique shop at the Hong Kong Hilton, in about 1988 or 1989.
APPRAISER:
And what did you pay for them then?
GUEST:
Either 135 Hong Kong dollars, or 235.
APPRAISER:
And they told you... what did they tell you about them?
GUEST:
They told us that they were at least 100 years old, but I'm not sure.
APPRAISER:
Well, 235 Hong Kong dollars is basically about $50.
GUEST:
Oh, is that all? Okay, 'cause I couldn't remember what the exchange rate was.
APPRAISER:
It's not very much. The basic material that we're looking at is enamel. These are hand painted, and they're in a style that dates to the 18th century. So my first observation at looking at these, I saw that in fact this mark says it was made during the Qianlong period, which is 1736 to 1795.
GUEST:
Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER:
Now, that's helpful to know that by looking at the mark, but it's not the entire story, because these are, in fact, not-- I'm not gonna lead you on-- these are not 18th century.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
They were made during a period of time when after the last emperor, a man named Yuan Shikai, who was a warlord in China, came in and took over the government.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
In the Imperial factories, you had many trained artisans who had worked for the last emperor, and they continued their work, making copies of things in the Imperial household.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
So these are really good copies.
GUEST:
And what do they date from?
APPRAISER:
About 1920.
GUEST:
Oh, 1920.
APPRAISER:
Now, how do we know they're copies? It's the details that make the difference. As you look up here at the top, right underneath the gilded lip...
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
The uneven line that you have here, the way the key fret is done, it's a little uneven. The way the bat is drawn, it's a little smudgy around the edges. The figures, you notice they're a little bit disproportionate. All those are clues that whoever was doing this was not doing it out of an original inspiration, but he was looking at something else and copying.
GUEST:
You said it's enamel over what?
APPRAISER:
Over copper, with some gilding. And the value of them, considering you paid $50 for them, it's actually about $400 to $600, $500 to $700. You might even get $1,000 for the pair.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
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