Chinese Export Bowl, ca. 1860
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APPRAISER:
You gave this as a present to your wife?
GUEST:
She had her eye on this bowl, and her birthday came up, and with this bowl and 24 yellow roses, you've got chicken every Sunday.
APPRAISER:
Oh great. And you got it here in Miami.
GUEST:
Yes, I did. There was an antiques dealer that was going out of business, and I stormed in and got one.
APPRAISER:
Oh boy, what did you pay for it at the time?
GUEST:
$125.
APPRAISER:
$125. This is called Famille Rose, or sometimes they call this Rose Medallion, and it refers to the predominantly pink color palette. That was developed in China by Europeans who went to China and they brought with them the secret of making opaque enamel colors, and one of those colors was pink. And people don't realize it, but you don't get pink on Chinese porcelain prior to about 1720. They would form the bowl first on a wheel in clay. After they let it dry in the air, they would then put it in the kiln, they would fire it, they would take it out, they would put these enamel colors with very skilled artisans that would paint the butterflies and the flowers, they would fire it again. The third process is the gilding. If you look at the outside, and particularly on the inside, you can see this gilded decoration?
GUEST:
Oh yeah.
APPRAISER:
That's actually gold leaf that's applied. So it was quite a complex process. This was made in the mid part of the 19th century, somewhere about 1860. And it would have been something that came from the Port of Canton, which had been opened up in China for Western trading companies to bring things back to the West.
GUEST:
Chinese export.
APPRAISER:
Chinese export, that's where the name came from, and they would have packed stacks of these bowls wrapped in bales of straw, which would have been bound, put in the holds of ships, brought back to the West. You find the inventories of these were actually included in the Philadelphia exposition of 1876. And uh, it was a favorite trade item in the mid-19th century. Gradually the quality declines by the end of the 19th century and you don't see the fine quality workmanship that you get on this example with all the details. And actually, the references to traditional Chinese motifs. And uh… it's worth substantially more than $125. It would make today anywhere from, I would say, around $1,800 to $2,500 because it's a nice large size, which is key on these bowls. And I'm delighted you came today and shared this with everybody.
GUEST:
Thank you very much.
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