Message #36781

[Wattana]

Hi Pookles,

Biding your time is a wise decision. Most of us have made some expensive mistakes when we started collecting. But then we didn't have the benefit of so many books for reference as are available nowadays. And there was no FORUM (thanks George!). Browse through the past threads and you will pick up a lot of knowledge.

The two bottles you posts look well made, with plenty of deep carving, and have nicely balanced compositions. A few things to be wary of:

1. It is extremely hard to identify genuine cinnabar lacquer from a few photos (especially when those pics are from the seller, who has a vested interest in making a sale!). So, unless you can actually see the layers where the material is deeply carved back, it is impossible to tell. The only sure way is to have the bottle in your hand, and examine it with a magnifying glass.
2. Most modern bottles are made of molded resin (which will have minute air bubbles), but some are now appearing on the market made of material with characteristics very similar to natural cinnabar lacquer, but cast as a solid piece rather than multi-layered, and then enhanced with hand carved details.
3. Over 95% of the bottles you see on ebay were made in the last 20 years, so the chances of getting a genuine 19th century bottle are very slim indeed.