Asian Antique Shop » Japanese Porcelain

Antiques Week in Philadelphia Starts Today

admin — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 00:04:33 +0000

By Karla Klein Albertson
Inquirer Antiques Columnist

The past is always with us in Philadelphia, but Antiques Week, beginning Friday, is an unmatched opportunity for collectors to examine the best furniture and decorative arts of previous centuries. So many experts on hand, so many specialties to explore - enjoy the feast.
The Philadelphia Antiques Show, now held at the Navy Yard, started it all 49 years ago. Antiques Week has been greatly enhanced by the ongoing 23d Street Armory Antiques Show and the excellent spring Americana sale at Freeman's. Museums display great things, but at these events, serious collectors can look over, under, and into museum-quality antiques. And ask questions to their heart's content.
Start shopping Friday morning at the historic 23d Street Armory, where show manager Frank Gaglio has assembled 45 well-known dealers who offer classic Americana, excellent folk art, and some eclectic surprises.

Exhibitors such as Chuck White, Mario Pollo, and Stephen-Douglas Antiques lay out beautifully integrated room settings of American furnishings and folk art. Gemini specializes in topline antique toys, Piccolo Art in dazzling miniatures.

New on board this year is John Chaski, a young dealer from Delaware. Also fresh to the show is New York jewelry dealer Sooky Goodfriend, whose wares include cocktail shakers and cuff links for modern Mad Men.

Gaglio tries to offer an eclectic selection that will appeal to new generations of collectors. He remembers that his daughter Ciara, now 22, came up with the slogan "Save Natural Resources, Buy Antiques."

"Young people are attracted by the visual impact of objects, by nostalgia, and by comfort and usability in a 21st-century lifestyle," he says. "The collecting bug is still there, but you have to present the right material."
Gaglio is a great believer in the Antiques Week concept. He runs a complementary shuttle on Saturday and Sunday between his show, 30th Street Station, and the Navy Yard. At www.barnstar.com, you can print out a coupon for $5 off the price of a ticket. Lunch is available at the on-site cafe.

The Philadelphia Antiques Show gets under way Friday night with the best preview gala of the year. The 2010 event, a mix of antiques, food, and fashion, benefits the new Penn Center for Ocular Imaging.

Party tickets are available at many levels at www.philaantiques.com. Basic tickets are $250, with a special deal for young collectors, 35 and under, at $125. The display of 50 distinguished exhibitors opens to the general public Saturday at 11 a.m.; tickets are $18 at the door, $15 online.

This year's special exhibit, "A Call to Arms: Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the British and American Markets, 1700-1850," is dedicated to the memory of longtime exhibitor Elinor Gordon (1918-2009). On Sunday, exhibit curator Ron Fuchs will present a lecture at 1:30 p.m.
Want to see this venerable show move a bit more firmly into the present century? Check out the new World Collectors Night at the Navy Yard on Saturday from 6 to 10 p.m., sponsored by Anthropologie. A $125 ticket includes cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and access to exhibitors who will share expertise and some special finds. At 8 p.m., the crowd will move next door to Urban Outfitters for an after-party with dancing.

Connecticut folk-art exhibitor Allan Katz, whose offerings often sell in the first minutes of the show, will be one of the dealers on hand Saturday night. Happy to take part, he says: "I'm an educator. I love to spread the gospel. I'm not a hard-sell guy, I'm a passion guy."
"Young collectors have the opportunity to go to a show like this and ask questions. Pick up the objects, feel them, and there's a live person there to answer all your questions. They need to connect with the material visually, but also mentally."

Like so many of the exhibits at both weekend shows, Katz's folk art fits beautifully in classic or modern interiors. Why buy cheap new "design" that hits the trash pile five years later? Work out a payment plan to buy a worthwhile treasure that will last a lifetime.

NGANG NGUNG KANANG LOVE ATTRACTION THAI BUDDHA AMULET R

0 Bid

US $9.99

1h 23m

Antique Japanese H Colored Original Woodcuts EXCELLENT

1 Bid

US $45.26

1h 48m

KirihaZukuri Japanese Sword Kobuse Folded Steel 2396

0 Bid

US $298.74

1h 48m

PURSE RETICULE RARE CENTRAL ASIAN HANDMADE EMBROIDERY

0 Bid

US $46.97

1h 52m

ART DECO STERLING SILVER MARCASITE ONYX DROP EARRINGS

7 Bids

US $29.27

2h 1m

Large Long Indian Asian Ethnic Boho Earrings X87 SALE

US $3.05

2h 9m

Large Long Indian Asian Ethnic Boho Earrings X88 SALE

US $3.05

2h 14m

Large Long Indian Asian Ethnic Boho Earrings X89 SALE

US $3.05

2h 42m

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Japanese Satsuma Ceramics

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 01:05:02 +0000

Satsuma is the name of a type of earthenware initially made in various kilns in Chosa, Ryumonji, Tateno and Naeshirogawa, in the Japanese prefecture of Kagoshima, on the island of Kyushu. All these places were under the control of the feudal lord of Satsuma.
In the late 1590s, Shimazu Yoshihiro — the lord of Satsuma — returned to Japan after fighting a war in Korea. He kidnapped a group of 22 Korean potters and their families, and put them to work in 1601, making ceramics from the white clay found at Naeshirogawa.
With strict race laws prohibiting intermarriage, these potters and their families were kept completely separate from the rest of the Japanese population. By the third quarter of the 19th century, there were more than 1,400 of these artisans, and all were engaged in pottery-making.

Classically, Satsuma is a light and porous earthenware covered with a cream-colored crackle glaze that offers ivory-brown tones. This glaze is good for enamel decoration, and even the color white looks good against it. All enamel colors adhere to this surface well and sink into the tiny cracks to the point that they seldom flake or peel.

Satsuma wares are most often found with floral decorations, but scenic designs were also made. The best Satsuma wares are elaborately and artistically decorated, while the lesser wares show much less care and artistic merit. Some pieces of Satsuma are indeed worthy of a museum, but most found in the United States are more commercial in nature and are not likely to find themselves displayed in institutions devoted to substantial works of art.

By the way, kilns in Kyoto, Yokohama, Tokyo and on the island of Awaji later manufactured Satsuma-style wares. This is an important distinction, because many of these made outside the original area are of commercial quality at best and are often considered to be lesser products.

JAPANESE H PT GILDED SATSUMA THREE IMMORTALS TRIO c1937

6 Bids

US $18.56

1h 25m

VINTAGE JAPANESE SATSUMA CABINET PLATE

1 Bid

US $15.65

1h 55m

VINTAGE SATSUMA PORCELAIN FIGURE OF BOY GIRL ON BENCH

0 Bid

US $9.04

2h 21m

Old Miniature Herend Hungary HP bird butterfly vase

3 Bids

US $13.49

2h 30m

Old Miniature Herend Hungary HP bird butterfly vase

1 Bid

US $9.99

2h 30m

Old Miniature Herend Hungary HP floral butterfly vase

0 Bid

US $9.99

2h 30m

Old Miniature Herend Hungary HP Chinese bouquet vase

0 Bid

US $9.99

2h 30m

Old Miniature Herend Hungary HP Chinese bouquet vase

1 Bid

US $9.99

2h 31m

Antique Japanese Kakiemon Porcelain

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 17:37:17 +0000

A type of Arita ware, Kakiemon is delicate porcelain with a distinctive palette. The name is derived from a family of potters and enamellers working in Arita, who are traditionally believed to have introduced overglaze enameling on porcelain to Japan in the 1640s. The extremely fine, milky-white body (nigoshide) was believed to have been exclusive to the Kakiemon kiln, although this is now disputed. Wares include small dishes, bottles, bowls, and vases, many of which are of geometric form.

DECORATION AND FORMS
Although the Kakiemon kilns produced blue-and white porcelain, they are generally associated with wares expertly painted in a palette of iron-red, cerulean-blue, turquoise-green, yellow, aubergine, and gold. These delicate porcelains form a counterpoint to the heavier Imari wares.

Often asymmetrical, the designs enhance the milky-white body of the best Arita porcelain. Kakiemon wares are usually painted with natural themes: birds in branches, flying squirrels, the “quail and millet” design, the “Three Friends of Winter” (pine, prunus, and bamboo), trailing flowers, and banded hedges. Human subjects are rare; some have been given titles such as the “Woman and the Nightingale” and the “Hob in the Well”, the latter a design based on the story of a Chinese sage who saved his friend who had fallen into a large fishbowl.

The chrysanthemum, the national flower of Japan, is a very common form for Kakiemon wares, as is the pointed bracket-shape. Many Arita wares, especially the Kakiemon type, are hexagonal or octagonal in form. An iron-brown dressing (fuchi-beni) was applied to the edges of many Kakiemon porcelains to embellish them and to protect the rims from being chipped; this was probably introduced around the mid-17th century, following the example set by Chinese potters. Kakiemon porcelain was arguably the most influential Japanese porcelain in Europe; after it was exported to Europe at the end of the 17th century, the forms and decoration were copied by many major factories including Meissen, Saint Cloud, Chantilly, Chelsea, and Bow.

• BODY a pure milky-white (nigoshide)
• GLAZE almost colorless
• PALETTE iron red, cerulean blue, turquoise, brown, yellow, and gold; black is used for detailing; iron-
brown edges (fuchi-beni) are typical
• FORMS geometric; dishes are hexagonal, octagonal, or decagonal
• DECORATION mainly flower motifs and only rarely figures; asymmetrical and sparse; popular patterns include the “quail and millet”, the “Three Friends of Winter” (pine, bamboo, and prunus), banded hedges, flying squirrels, and the ho-ho bird (phoenix)
• COPIES made in many European factories from the end of the 18th century, including Meissen, Chantilly, Saint Cloud, Chelsea, and Bow