About This Forum

This snuff bottle community forum is dedicated to the novice, more experienced, and expert collectors. Topics are intended to cover all aspects and types of bottle collecting. To include trials, tribulations, identifying, researching, and much more.

Among other things, donations help keep the forum free from Google type advertisements, and also make it possible to purchases additional photo hosting MB space.

Forum Bottle in the Spotlight

Charll shared this beautiful Xianfeng (1851-1861) dated bottle depicting NeZha combating the Dragon King amongst a rolling sea of blue and eight mythical sea creatures.


Chinese Snuff Bottle Discussion Forum 中國鼻煙壺討論論壇
March 28, 2024, 08:58:10 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
 
  Home Help Search Contact Login Register  

Another Red Dragon

Pages: [1] 2
  Print  
Author Topic: Another Red Dragon  (Read 1187 times)
0 Members and 11 Guests are viewing this topic.
Fiveroosters aka clayandbrush
Private Boards
Hero Member
***
Gender: Male
Posts: 4049



« on: September 16, 2016, 03:16:17 pm »

Dear Kathy,
first at all, what do you meant by saying that “Both are underglazed, so it's a good comparison.”? If you meant that the decoration is under the glaze, that is not true. The decoration on all three bottles is made by over-glaze iron red, also known as “rouge de fer”. They are over-glazed. You can find under-glazed red dragons, but in such case it is the less common, and more difficult to firing it correctly, copper red.
Said that, about the comparison.
First bottle (left one): where it has been sold the bottle by Christie’s? I found it very strange, that bottle is not of high quality enough to be sold by Christies. If it has been sold by them, it is a further prove of what said by Joey and Samson, the major Auction houses are not always THE reference, unfortunately.
Second bottle (your one): unlike Joey, sorry to be straightforward but I really don’t like such bottles. I can’t even watch at them.  Joey is right that it is well drawn, but that means nothing to me. Or better, it just means skill and nothing more. Not an artistic merit, not a recognizable style related with a period, just a copy. The exaggerated shape, also typical of this type of objects, is hurting too. Frankly it is hard to me to call this type of object as “fake”, because a fake tries to reproduce something in the best way the faker can do, while this type of bottles are instead trying to capture un-experienced buyers by means of such expedients, (exaggerated shape, fancy decoration, phantasy motifs) that are instead horrible to whom has an educated taste on the matter.
Third bottle: what tells us that this bottle is modern is, with no doubt, the foot and base. It is difficult to explain why, it is a knowledge that you will build up in time, with experience.  You will recognize immediately that none of old bottles has that foot/base shape and general appearance, including the paste. Besides that, the dragons have some mistakes that are spotted to whom knows how dragons of each period should look like. The more evident also to the not experienced eyes is the face of the dragon among waves. From which perspective has been drawn? It is a non-sense head. There is another clamorous detail, in the same third image that you posted, the one of the wrong face of the dragon. Look at the position of his front legs: what is that? It seems a crucified dragon! But, more important, pay attention to the fact that he is HOLDING the flamed pearl! With, above it, the standard flying flamed pearl that is usually chased by the two dragons! Two pearls there! What is that? A phantasy creation!
Kind regards
Giovanni
Report Spam   Logged

Pages: [1] 2
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal