Dizzy from looking at porcelain items last couple days !

[George]

So many different kinds of beatuiful porcelain items..

In an effort to get at least a first nice porcelain piece, found this 4" baluster shape vase..

Still have my eye out for a nice blue and white, or even iron red porcelain snuff bottle, but they are just sky high in price..  Although I am seeing a few nice smaller blue and white, as well as iron red vases in the 4"+ height range.

Any way...  Have my eye on this one and am planning to bid on it..  Perfect height to mix in with my snuff bottles 

Although.., since looks like my bottle budget for this next month is very little.. Bidding on this one will depend how I do on an IP coming up..

Where condition is everything.. Just how serious a chip is this on the opening ?

Says it is 18th Century Ge Type Crackle Glaze..  From my very limited experience, it looks like it is..

Any comments on this one would be great !

[Pat - 查尚杰]

Hi George

I am not at all sure that this is a snuff bottle but I am no expert by any means in porcelain.  I have never seen this neck shape.  However, it is a real cool and nice bottle/vase/...

[George]

I am pretty sure it is not a snuff bottle... The opening does not appear like it would accept any kind of stopper..

[rpfstoneman]

George,

The following is a excerpt, with minor edits, from the Gotheborg site on crackle glazing:

As I understand it, crackle (craquelure) is intentionally induced for a decorative effect.  In most ceramics the body or paste and the glaze are made up of different mixtures of clay and other materials. As the piece is heated in the kiln the body will expand and the glaze will melt. At the end of the firing cycle in the kiln the molten glaze will become solid and the 'skin' of glaze and the body will both contract as they slowly cool. If the glaze contracts more quickly than the body then tension will build up which will cause the cracking which you see in the vase.

Over the centuries the potters had learned by trial and error to control this by adjusting the composition of the glaze they used so that it would expand and contract at the same rate as the body of the ceramic. This gave a glaze which was said to have a 'good fit' and which would not crack or flake off - and this is normally what they would want.

But this knowledge also enabled them to formulate a glaze which they knew would crack as it cooled and would produce a decorative effect.  Many cracks appear as the piece cools inside the kiln but after removal further cracks develop over a period of days or weeks. In some cases the potters would accentuate the lines by rubbing a dark pigment over the ceramics. If this was done immediately after taking them from the kiln the initial cracks would then appear as dark lines and cracks which developed later would be lighter. The most famous examples of these crackled ceramics are the Guan and Ge wares of the Song. Even the experts seem to be able to debate endlessly over the origins, differences and similarities of these wares - so a relative novice like me had better leave them well alone.

[by Kevin Hawco, May 2003]

[George]

  In most ceramics the body or paste and the glaze are made up of different mixtures of clay and other materials. As the piece is heated in the kiln the body will expand and the glaze will melt. At the end of the firing cycle in the kiln the molten glaze will become solid and the 'skin' of glaze and the body will both contract as they slowly cool. If the glaze contracts more quickly than the body then tension will build up which will cause the cracking which you see in the vase.

Thank you for that Charll.. 

Curious what the rhyme or reason might be for a potter to decide to apply or not apply a glaze to the base of a piece so as to create crackling there ..

While Googling, I see a lack of glazing to the base of pieces that seem to truly be earlier pieces..

Not absolutely sure if there is a clue to be had here or not..


 

On a side note... In the news today..

20,000-Year-Old Pottery Found In China

A 20,000-year-old pottery fragment has been found in Xianrendong Cave, Jiangxi Province in China. This is the oldest pottery yet found — it’s at least 2000-3000 years older than any pottery previously found in the world.

[Wattana]

Hi George,

The example you have appears to be a miniature vase, rather than a bottle, as the neck profile does not lend itself to be stoppered easily. It is also a little too tall for a snuff or medicinal bottle.

On the question of the base being crackle-glazed in the same way as the body, I am not sure why they did it, but they did. I have a snuff bottle in a delicate rose-colored crackle glaze that is of almost identical baluster shape to your example, on which the base is also crackle-glazed. The top is finished with a short cylindrical neck to take a cork stopper, and it stands 6.5 cm high. When I figure out how to post pictures on the forum I might send a photo of it.

I was once told that this shape is referred to as meiping, or plum blossom wine jar. Much larger versions of this jar can still be seen in the Chinatown part of Bangkok, used to store anything from pickles to salted fish paste. They are capped with a wide, flat disc (usually of wood) that fits tightly.

Tom

[George]

Thank you Tom !