Hi Bill
Yes , you
will have a ton to catch up on ! This forum is really great fun . I spent over an hour last night chatting on line with Patriek and I'm going to order some books from Richard, who it turns out also knows Jill very well.
Hope the hike goes well. My replacement knee is recovering so maybe we can make that trip you once suggested in China looking at arch-like places after I retire in a couple of years
Back to antique bottles :
Pat : when I first started collecting I once bought what I thought was an antique bottle at a very good price from a Guangzhou antique shop in the tourist area by the White Swan hotel . It was sort of darkish yellow glass and faded - a very detailed ancient Chinese street scene . I asked Bill for advice and he warned me about fake antiques and that - incredibly -
some fake bottles are actually a transfer stuck on the inside of the bottle ! Don't ask me how they do that : seems more difficult than actually painting inside. Anyway, I checked the bottle carefully, and sure enough there were some tiny places where the transfer had peeled off showing the clear glass. Caveat emptor ! Having said that, it was nothing like the old bottles you sent me pics of last night , which obviously are truly inside painted, and also obviously very old judging from the painting styles. Just that you don't know who painted them ( yet ) . Probably Jill's husband, Li Hui, in BJ can give you an opinion if you bring them for him to examine.