Buying Antique Chinese Porcelain Under $500 Song to Qing

Good morning, this is Peter Combs from bidamount.com, and today is Tuesday, December 13th, and a viewer of our videos asked the other day if we could do a piece on less expensive porcelains, things that can be bought in the market that aren't going to cost you a fortune. So we thought, well, where do you draw the line? So we thought everything under $500. Let's see what we can find that sold for $500 in the last few months on the internet, on eBay, things that we know are okay, that are authentic, and to see what we came up with. And the list is kind of interesting. I was pleasantly surprised, actually. So let's take a look at it and see what we can come up with, all right? And we're going to start first, we have, we've done it sort of in by dollar volume, the lower number first, then working our way upward. And the first thing we came up with was this, a rather nice late Song to early Yuan period, dark brown, they call these black jaslines, they're really dark brown glaze, jarlet. It was around two and a half, three inches tall, and it sold very reasonably. It went for $45. So there's something you could have bought if you like earlier pieces. And if we click up here and go here, this was a nice mid-18th century famille rose export plate with a vase, turquoise vase in the center with flowers coming out of it. It was probably made around, oh, I don't know, 1750 to 1770, somewhere in there. And it went for $65. It had a tiny hairline on the rim. But if you can live with that, it's a heck of a good buy. And we'll go here, nice little Yixing teapot, sold with stamping all over it. It's a circa 1900 pot, but a nice example. And it went for about $150. Okay, just fairly recently, actually. And then we have this. This is a rather nice, this is a seller in the Netherlands that we keep track of, a rather nice Kangxi or so dish, probably is Kangxi by the looks of it. It was around seven or eight inches in diameter. And it went for $98. All right, $98 for a Kangxi plate. So how's that? All right. And these are all stuff we feature in the newsletter every week. So if you're not getting the newsletter, you're probably missing them. And this, very nice little famil rose export teapot. It was around, you know, four or five inches tall, butterflies and birds on it. Very pretty, nice shape, well-shaped handle, a nice lid on it, a little bit of tiny bit of wear in the gilding up here. But overall, a nice piece. Has a vent hole here in the handle. That's not damaged. That's where they put the vent holes. And it went for $98. So how's that? Pretty good buy. Very pretty and reasonably priced. All right. One of the things that we've noticed lately, I want to mention this, is that some sellers get a little nervous when they have stuff on the web. And if they don't sell or get bids right away, they've been, some of them have been pulling them off. So if you see something you like, put a bid on it right away. So the seller knows that there's interest. Don't dance around the thing. You may come back on the closing day and the seller may yank it. All right. And then we had these three pieces. This was a seller in the Netherlands that we follow. A nice lot. Some of them had minor imperfections and whatnot. But all three of them sold as a group for, it was $125. And they range in size anywhere from, this was around, I think around four inches tall, and these are, you know, six or eight inches tall. All right. And then you had this, this rather nice food pot. It's a late 19th century blue and white example. Nicely done. And it was sold for about $150. All right. And then you had this. This is a real Kung Shi bowl. Okay. This is a nice Kung Shi Femille Verre bowl. It's got some fritting on the edge. It's got a hairline here. It does have a line in it. But it only went for $151. So if you're not in a position to shell out, you know, $1,000 or $1,500 for one of these, this is a good example. It's got overglazed blue enamel, which is fairly desirable on these. A nice aubergine. And something to think about. All right. And then you had this, this very nice, this was a good size plate. This was about a 14 inch oval serving platter. Export made around 1830 to 1850. Butterfly pattern. They made these right through the century though, I have to say. But this was a nice one. It was well done. Went for $153. So certainly, certainly a very reasonable buy. Interestingly, Canton and export pieces like this have been selling for a lot less than they were 15 years ago. About half. So it's a good time for collectors of export. If you like this stuff, keep an eye on it. Now is the time to buy it. Same thing for this Canton platter. This was a good size Canton plate. It was about almost 15 inches by the looks of the ruler at the bottom. It was in perfect condition, had no damage. I checked this. And it went for a very reasonable $158. We had it in the newsletter. He's one of our regular sellers. And then there was this. There was a lot. This is five pieces of 18th century export porcelain. Two different sizes. This one is a strainer. And all three of them all five of them rather went for $150. All right, and the plates are roughly eight and a half to nine inches in diameter each. Okay, it's very good buy. And as I recall, they were all in perfect condition. There's nothing wrong with them other than maybe some minor wear. So there's some nice familial rows can be bought these days. And then there was this very good little 18th century creamer. Nicely done very, very good enamels on it made her probably around 1775 or so went for $197. So there's another example. And then you have this this is a you know, a rose mandarin scallop leaf shaped dish, they tend to run eight or nine inches in diameter. This was a nice one with a nice scene and figures in the middle, sitting by a table went for $190. And it was absolutely perfect. There's nothing wrong with it. Good plate, no restoration. And then you have this wonderful, the photography isn't great. But this is a song Charlotte, a couple of inches tall two or three inches tall, nice thick celadon glaze on it could be Yuan period in that the pieces from the song to the earlier one can be very tricky to date. I didn't look at this in person, obviously. But it's a good example has a nice mouth on it went for a pretty reasonable $200. So if you like early celadons, they can certainly be bought for way under $500. As you can see. And then you had this this export plate arms of New York. Very nice example made for the American market. This is not a repair over it's just the light it was the photography on it was terrible. But it was nice old plate made around 1800. And it went for I think it was about $200 $203 according to the note I have here. So there you are. And then you had this lot you had three good size vases they range in size from as I recall about this little one here in the middle was about nine inches. And this one was about 14 inches and all three of them went for $256. They're all antique. This one on the left would be the older of the three. The one on the right would be the and they had minor issues condition wise but nothing. Nothing too significant. I think one of them had a hairline in it. All right. Chinese don't like things with hairlines in them. They have sort of a phobia about it. It's a little bit odd. So if you see something that mentions a hairline or anything, the chances are you're going to have a shot at buying it. And you can increase your shot at buying it by putting a bid in right away get a bid on things. Pieces with minor restoration issues often don't get a lot of attention once there's a bid on once there's a bid on and people say oh why bother. It's easy to discourage people that way. And then you have we had this this wonderful big platter this is a good size platter you can see by the coke can in the picture I wish people would stop using coke cans and go to something a little more elegant maybe a standard size wine glass or a nice bottle of wine or something that people can recognize for scale other than coke cans I don't know where that came from it's horrible but at any rate it's a nice 18th century platter with a brown dressing rim good landscape balustrade this was in the newsletter this past week and it went for 265 dollars very good buy that's a remarkable buy actually good looking piece and then there was this these pair of beaker vases they're 19th century but they have nice decoration on them the fighting scenes and around the center of precious objects and bronzes and so forth these were about eight or nine inches tall and they went for a pretty reasonable of 260 dollars so there you have it and then this Anoia Straits jar these things have become incredibly popular lately and but you can still pick them up this is Anoia Straits hot food pot and they're notable for these bright enamels hard enamels they use and this one only went for 263 dollars and it was in good shape I took a look at it so go from there and then this this is a seller that we actually follow in Hong Kong we don't follow any sellers in mainland China for any reason those of you who aren't familiar with it it's illegal to export antiques out of mainland China so if you see something listed by a seller from there you know immediately it's a reproduction because they're not allowed to export them and eBay has tens of thousands of them but this is a seller in Hong Kong and they can export antiques and this is a fellow we keep an eye on this was a nice 19th possibly late 18th century vase it was not cut down that's the original shape of it I like the shape of this a nice dark green with a crackle in it and it went for 269 dollars it measured about nine inches tall so that was a pretty nice buy if you like monochromes if you're interested in collecting them they can be bought and then you had this is nice late 19th century with this faux bronze decoration here and up around the collar they used a dry brown pigment on these but famil rose in the middle and then blue ground at the bottom a lot of crackle in it nice piece as you can see it's about twice the height of the coke can again with the coke cans so it's around probably 11 inches tall and it went for um what did this go for 280 dollars pretty reasonable all right I like these these have the lion masks on the on the neck as well and then we have this this nice late 19th century from me there uh vase sort of a mallet shaped vase it was drilled but was good size it was about 10 inches tall very nice looking vase I like the figures on it and 285 dollars all right and then this this isn't this isn't porcelain obviously but this was a nice root carving or hardwood carving burl wood with root at the bottom nice figures it was fairly good size and I thought somebody got a great I like these carvings and it only went for about 290 dollars somebody got a great buy on it notice the hands are missing up here because the hands are often made of separate materials and they off very often fall out so it's not a big problem just use it as is then this teapot mid 18th century uh side handle a chocolate pot actually is what it is made for export a rather nice one and uh this went for about 265 dollars I'm not sure the lid is original on that but uh it looked fine and uh for one of these it's very reasonable very reasonable and then you have this this very nice uh about eight inch early 18th century uh shallow bowl with an inverted rim that's shaped lots of things going on on it it was in very good shape as I recall it had a very slight hairline here it is it's got a hairline on the side and uh to be honest what a lot of dealers will do with these is they'll take them and they'll drop them in a bucket of commercial grade hydrogen peroxide and that line will evaporate in about a week and uh very very difficult to see um and it cleans it up and makes the pipe presentable and this thing this plate only went for 305 dollars which is quite reasonable for these and then you have this this good size this was a nice size um rose medallion with mandarin seen uh vase as you can see by the cup it looks like it was about probably 14 inches tall um it had a star in the bottom a star crack in the bottom which is really common on these pieces and it only went for 311 dollars that's a nice big vase for 300 bucks and uh this one um went for just a little more than that 316 uh has the uh shaped uh shaped rim at the top and the foo lines coming down the sides with these interesting court scenes very nice looking piece uh about 12 or 13 inches tall and uh went for 316 dollars so you're getting the idea that's sort of the price range for these and then you had this this was very nice this is a chinese amari uh good looking teapot with underglaze blue overglaze enamels um had this lovely little bit of scroll work here under the rim and uh went for a very reasonable 329 dollars it had a nick somewhere in the description oh there it is a little tiny nick on the edge of the spout this particular seller mentions every possible flaw uh so you don't get any surprises but very reasonable for one of these this is a nice early example uh probably you know to become xi period all right and then you have this this uh jai jing uh bowl marked bowl it looks to be the period it's not imperial of course but the the mark seems to be about right for the decoration what i'm seeing but a very attractive bowl and it went for 300 dollars 335 dollars so it's a good buy and this is these bowls generally are about seven inches in diameter and then you had this this nice chinese amari export bowl with this rui head cartouche on it and the diaper pattern around the underside of the rim underglaze blue overglaze red enamels dominated it was about eight and a half eight inches wide nine inches wide and it was in good shape had nothing wrong with it i checked didn't have any cracks no repairs no fills nothing and went for 356 dollars so there's another piece all right and then you have these uh uh chamberlain juice uh seller juice had these the pair uh went for um i think it was 360 for them um very nice late 19th century early 20th century they you've everybody's seen these they have these piles of inscription around the back of your inscription collector and uh get a nice big pair and actually these are 16 inches tall just remember they were 16 inches tall for the pair 365 dollars there's a lot of color a lot of bang for the buck and then you have this this very nice again uh probably kung shi period early 18th century uh plate with the horse uh the women the huntresses i've just seen with the rabbit and the little deer it had a brief hairline someplace on it or something it was had a minor minor flaw i couldn't see it on the front anywhere and it went for 365 dollars and there was this this sort of kakiamon decorated 18th century teapot i thought this was very nice i like the decoration i like the sparse decoration on this and it was in good shape went for 365 dollars teapots are a great thing to collect because they come in so many shapes and colors and there are a lot of teapot collectors out there and they're reasonably priced you can pick them up for anywhere from a little over 100 to you know very often well under 500 as in this example and this is a good antique one and then you had this this was a very attractive small um export uh rose mandarin medallion terrine with a gilded mushroom finial on top with the under tray it was about eight inches wide uh and it went for oh god would this thing go for 370 dollars for both pieces it's actually three pieces the top the bottom and the and the tray so there you are all right very reasonable and that's a nice one that's just this is a seller that we feature often in the newsletter over in the netherlands he's a good fella he gets nice things he's also a potter himself but he doesn't make these and uh this this was this is those of you that like kung shi pieces this is a very rare type of kung shi teapot highly desirable and uh if it had its lid and original spout these sell in the three to five thousand dollar range pretty typically as long as it's in nice shape but here's a here's a chance for somebody to get one everybody loves the bamboo sort of wrap handle on these and this this one only went for 365 dollars so if you're working on a modest budget and you like you like the style and you really love the decoration of these old pieces don't be afraid of buying one that needs a repair or is missing a cover buy it for the artwork that's what you're paying for all right and then we had this is one lee late ming deer dish and i like the rim on this very much i like the the outer border it's quite unusual and this plate uh measured about seven and a half eight inches wide and it went for 392 dollars and looks to be as always in very very good shape this is another seller we follow pretty carefully he's he's in asia um and japan and then we have this this big sort of noya straights famil rose this is a very powerfully decorated jar and it was over 24 inches tall great big jar this is a nice big one a lot of color quite attractive deep blue ground and went for 393 because when i looked into it it has a has an old hairline or so up in the rim and one of the tips of one of these has been repaired and that kind of thing but nothing nothing devastating as far as i'm concerned yeah you expect issues with big pieces they have a lot of exposure and they get banged around because of their size and this was a nice one again a dealer we know very well that we we featured this in the newsletter so somebody got a great buy on this 24 25 inches as i recall and then you had this these are cool a pair of these sold at christie's with little lids a few years ago for about four thousand dollars this is a transitional period a chosen period miniature vase these are only a couple of inches tall and somebody picked this one up for 397 they're quite rare they have flat bottoms unglazed um and they're they're not easy to come by and uh but but they do turn up on ebay you know we show them when we see them and then you have this moon flask small moon flask about eight inches as i recall went for 417 i like the handles on this that has nice handles up here and this was in very good shape it didn't have any repairs or damage it's a very lovely scene under a couple under two women under a willow tree and somebody is in sort of the moon shaped window here you know it's a little cracked ice border at the bottom nice looking nice looking uh little pot for under five hundred dollars and then there was this big jar this is a good size jar as you can tell by the again with the coke cans and um i'm going to start writing these people letters tell them to knock off the coke cans but anyway this is a good jar mid late 19th century example done in the earlier style with a vase in the center um on a big powerful stand being flanked by two two boys who were trying to move look like they're trying to move it good luck with that and this went for four hundred dollars nice nice piece for four hundred dollars very attractive i like the floral sprays and this for if you like scholars objects and monochromes this was a nice 19th century example with the robin's egg blue and a chimera and the chimera was not damaged there's a it's a black and black and white spots i think a little bit of the enamel might have come off here but it wasn't broken or anything and went for four hundred dollars which is quite reasonable scholars objects tend to be very collected but this was reasonable and then you had this the everybody a lot of people that collect recognize this palette it's the late 19th century fami june um often associated with the empress dowager she was very fond of this color and with this pattern with these black grisaille sort of leaves and there's a brush pot and uh went for a very reasonable price of about four hundred dollars a little over four hundred dollars and the seller had two up this week there that week as i recall they were quite similar so i just picked one of them and then you have this the seller had this up this country i'm not convinced of that it might be but it's definitely 18th century and it's a little uh uh wine jar or he calls it a tea caddy it doesn't look like a tea caddy to me but anyway it's six inches tall and it went for 440 dollars which is a good buy for one of these nice example very very loosely drawn uh very often seen in export and then you have this great big jar this was something sold by our friend josh uh nicely done like the square sort of kung shi style uh cover on it it's not a kung shi jar but it's definitely in the manner of with the cracked ice outer area and this this lobed center thing with the precious objects and vases and flowers and buddhist symbols and all kinds of stuff going on it this jar was about nine inches tall and i went for around 450 dollars very reasonable nice big piece and then this okay that's a chin lung mark it's not chin lung it's a later but uh very nicely done this green lime green ground and the red phoenixes and the famil rose flowers and the rue heads and very typical interior turquoise a nice high foot the mark up here it does say chin lung but a little tip off on these marks you look over here this this second mark if you see that upside down looking v in that box all right it should be a straight line now if it was a straight line it would still wouldn't make this chin lung but that's one of the mistakes they always they seem to have made when they did and they rarely if ever did them in that style in the original period and then for earlier collectors again we have this this is actually a main celadon that turned up southeast asian celadon very nice with this with this sort of bamboo turned neck and prunus or apple blossoms in relief and then incised decoration it was about eight inches tall went quite reasonably 450 dollars it was very heavy looking nice nice nice little vase for someone and then you have this this is uh we're getting down to the last couple this was a rather good famil rose bowl uh 19th century early 19th century with a good landscape decoration running around it it was eight inches in diameter had no repairs 457 dollars this was also on ebay and this was something all the things i've shown you are things that we feature in the newsletter and then lastly you have this this sold for exactly 500 dollars and it's a fairly rare type of teapot because i decorated uh mid 18th century circa 17 oh 1760 to 1775 a little later than mid uh teapot export generally for the european market some of them came here but it was a nice pot and it had nothing to complain about as far as condition goes as i recall it might have had some minor fritting on a corner or something but perfectly nice pot and it went very reasonably for 500 so how can you beat that so that's it that'll give you some idea of the kind of things you can buy nice looking little pot you can buy on ebay and if you want to you can get the newsletter notices each week just come to the site and click on there and we'll put you will you'll be added automatically you'll get these uh items in your mailbox on saturday nights long before they close and i would urge you to when you see something don't play games don't put it on a watch list don't think i'll come back later put a bid on it put a bid on it and then ebay will let you know if you've been outbid and you're showing interest you won't you you avoid the risk of having somebody yank a listing on you it's very frustrating when that happens but people will if they don't think they're getting interest they will pull pieces these days it's become more and more common so put a bid on things and get the ball rolling and subscribe to our youtube channel we put up something every week at least once and thanks so much i'm sorry this went a little long all righty have a great week bye