The Jie Rui Tang Collection of only Kangxi porcelain was built up over the course of nearly 40 years by an American collector. Within the collection are some of the finest examples of Kangxi porcelain extant in the world today. The entire collection consists of over 700 examples, any one of the pieces would be a welcome addition to any collection public or private. 

A few weeks before Christmas in December of 2017 the authors were kind enough to forward me a copy of this terrific new book.  Shortly after Christmas in the New Year, I had the opportunity to spend an entire afternoon viewing and handling the key pieces illustrated in the book.  I also looked at many others not included, which were all equally stellar.  The collection, ranging from massive fine vases to sublime smaller table wares were all exceptional in quality and condition.  Several were of types I'd not ever seen before in person, including an enchanting Famille Jaune Openwork Cylindrical Perfumer.

Enjoy the video we put together about the book and collection. If you're a serious collector and fan of porcelains of the Kangxi period, you really need this book.  It will go out of print, so buy it now. You can buy it from the Paragon Book Gallery for $120.00, it's already being offered on eBay for $180 which means it will become much more expensive in time. 

Chinese Qianlong Famille Rose porcelain in the National Palace Museum collection, comprises perhaps the finest collection of its kind in the world.  A few months ago we did a primer and a video on the history of Famille Rose decorations.  If you missed it go back and give it a look. On this page, we wanted to share some of the finest rarest examples extant from the Qianlong period.

German Alchemists and Chinese Innovation

The process for making Famille Rose enamels was discovered in Germany and brought to China by Jesuits during the late Kangxi period (1662-1722).  After this, it was the Chinese who exploited this knowledge to levels never equalled any place on earth.   They also did it in an incredibly short period of time, less than 20 years.  The Germans figured out how to make it, the Chinese taught the world how to use it.

The colour ranges made possible by Famille Rose was an instant success with the Imperial Court during the Yongzheng period (1723-1735).  Soon, workshops for decorating blank made to order porcelains was built within the Palace grounds.  The Emporer was the arbiter of taste for the entire country.

The popularity of these colours with their soft clear tones and pure hues quickly created demand by consumers throughout the globe. The resulting global trade for "export" orders combined with demand inside China from the Emporer's court to the upper classes produced a massive and lucrative industry. An industry that by the Qianlong period (1736-1795) had expanded to thousands of workshops and kilns employing tens of thousands of workers fulfilling orders around the clock. 

The demand was further increased during the 18th C. with the seemingly endless shapes and forms that could be achieved by potters combined with these fabulous colours. 

During this era, China's expanded trade with the West quickly made the Qianlong Emporer the wealthiest person on earth by a wide margin.  It also vastly expanded the West's interest in Chinese cultural taste including not only porcelain but woodworking, silver, silk and paintings. While the tea and spice trade remained the core economic driver, it was China's artistic sensibilities and expertise that grabbed the imaginations of those in distant lands.  The influence of this adopted taste and interest can be seen to this day throughout Europe and the America's. 

Imperial Taste: Chinese Qianlong Famille Rose Porcelain

The Qianlong Emporer was perhaps the most involved patron of the arts the world has ever known. His scholarly pursuits and interest in the arts knew no apparent boundaries. 

His constant encouragement of artists working in all mediums resulted in an unprecedented bounty of objects, including those who made porcelain. As a result, the shapes, styles and construction of ceramic objects were produced in highly complex forms, all of which pleased the Emporer.  Innovative colour combinations were tried, as were innumerable and endless glaze combinations. Some resulted in objects of intense beauty and elegance, while others were more for pure amusement than actual ceramic art. 

Below are just a few of the objects produced during the Qianlong period. CLICK on the Images to enlarge.  

To See more, Visit the National Palace Museum The Art of Qianlong

Chinese bronze vases and incense burners made between 1200 AD and 1912 are very well known among collectors and dealers. Despite this awareness, examples made during the Song to Qing dynasty remained until recently largely under-appreciated when compared to other objects. In particular when compared to porcelain, jade, paintings, and furniture from the same periods.  All of which have enjoyed massive amounts of interest over the last 20 years with ever escalating prices into the stratospheres. 

 While Archaic Bronzes of the Northern Shang and Western Zhou periods have remained among the most highly valued and best-known of China's history with this art form. Later Chinese bronze, including fine incense burners, vases and scholar's objects, have lagged sorely behind garnering significant interest from collectors in general by comparison.  That is until very recently during the last 5 to 10 years. 

Today, lovely incredibly well patinated Song bronzes that could be had 10 or 15 years ago for well under $300, even under $100, are now in the thousands. Extremely fine Ming and Kangxi examples can now realize over $150,000.  They are however still a long way from catching up with objects in other categories from the same periods. 

One of the biggest obstacles for those interested in the topic, there is a dearth of information out there. To help share our enthusiasm for later Chinese bronze art, we decided to put this page together. 

So enjoy the images, priced Sotheby's catalog, and video!  The majority of the bronzes below, after about the first 11 or so, are also priced from recent auctions. 

All images below enlarge after being clicked. 

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The Chinese Famille Rose porcelain history is a pretty fascinating one.  How this enamel, first developed in Germany found it's way to the kilns of Jindezhen as well as the workshops in the Imperial Palace is a story in itself. Not to mention the lasting impact it had, not only in China but globally to this day. 

Famille rose was the final palette adopted by porcelain decorators during the final years of the Kangxi period.  Within a couple decades hit its peak in quality becoming ubiquitous in the collections of not only the Emporer's court but the wealthy social classes from China to Europe, including the collections of Kings. 

The unwavering demand for Famille Rose has now lasted 300 years. 

About plcombs Chinese-Asian Art on YouTube, helping our customers and friends stay informed about the Chinese and Asian art market. 

Why we do them. A few years ago it occurred to us, that very few video's could be found on the web which provided much timely information on the Chinese and Asian art market. We found even less for collectors, hobbyists, and dealers when it came to identifying and learning about objects. Sure there are a few on great rarities, like the 35 Million dollar Chenghua Chicken cup or the Guan bowl that brought millions, but nothing or very little about the "real world" environment of things you're very likely to encounter. 

What we talk about and share every week

• eBay Auction Results. An enormous number of folks who buy, sell and collect, do so through eBay. Contrary to many people's perceptions about eBay, sellers around the world sell millions of dollars of Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Tibetan antiques pass through the massive site each month. While many of the items offered are fakes and copies, with a little looking and knowledge authentic things can be found. Each week we review the auction results of items sold during the previous week. many if not most of them had been posted on our sister site Bidamount.com's weekly Auction Catalog Newsletter page.
• Major Auction House Previews and Auction results. We for professional reasons keep a close watch on the world auction market. We also like talking about what's going on and sharing our thoughts with our visitors and friends. So we make video's to talk about things before they are sold and again post auction.
• Learning about Chinese-Asian Art. Over the last few years, we've done a number of video's on identifying fakes and real examples. A couple are fairly long with dozens of dozens of examples for comparison. We've also done one of carved Rhino horns and other on porcelain types from Famille verte to monochromes. 

Take a look

So check it out, please do subscribe and tell us if there is an area or topic you think we might do a future video on. 

Previous Videos, (just a few, there are hundreds of them)