A puzzle resolved by a passage in Zhou Chunbing's 2022 book, Enamel Bureau: Research and Collection of Famous Cloisonné Workshops in Modern China ?
A business card with a factory name similar to DeXingCheng, perhaps emphasizing a new, modern look to appeal to chic shoppers in the 1920s? Or perhaps an imitator?
[click on pictures to enlarge them]
Recently I acquired a large 45x33mm bead designed as a Japanese scroll weight (fuchin). The design and rounded shape resembles a spherical bead also in my little collection of three. None of them were very expensive (although the crocheted and knotted tassels seem harder to come by), possibly because they look so … “rugged,” shall we say.
Two possibilities:
1.
They’re early mid-19th century
cloisonne, made before the early pre-Meiji workshops got the glass formulations
and wire solder right, hence the gassy, pitted enamel that can’t be brought to
a high polish (doro shippo); or,
2.
They’re much later products, possibly circa
1920s, deliberately designed to be crude according to the wabi-sabi aesthetic.
What do you think?
[Note: clicking on a photo will enlarge it, and the image can then be enlarged a bit further by opening it in a new tab.]
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| My small collection |
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| Comparison of 4 different cylinders |
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| Six more cylinders |
Eleven years ago, back in July 2015, I wrote about 4 rare Chinese cloisonne beads featuring red-crowned cranes. Recently two similar beads turned up, this time featuring a dragon chasing the flaming pearl of wisdom, and a landscape scene with a tiny spotted deer and red-crowned crane among mountainside pines. These are classic Chinese themes. The following slides from auctions at Christie’s and Sotheby’s and the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art provide explanation and examples.
If anyone has other examples of these seemingly very rare antique beads, do let me know.
[Clicking on an image will enlarge it; opening the enlarged image in a new tab will enlarge it even more.]
Cloisonne animals are featured in a catalog from Peking Arts and Crafts. While there is no publication date listed, the phrase
“Since the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution this
kind of traditional arts has undergone further development, winning popular
favour among peoples of all countries”
likely places the date within the 1966-76 era of the
Cultural Revolution, which ended in 1976 with the deaths of Mao and Zhou Enlai.
Imports from China had been under embargo by the United
States for 20 years, from the Korean War in 1950 until after Kissinger’s visit
in mid-1971 to reopen diplomatic and trade relations. According to the back
information in the catalog, however, the major export customer for the
cloisonne products listed was still Hong Kong.
Zhang Tonglu, who worked at the cloisonne workshop in the
Peking Arts and Crafts factory (established 1960 cf prior blog post), related in interviews how buyers
from Hong Kong used to reside for weeks in hotels surrounding the factory in
order to accumulate stock immediately as works were produced.
Following the scans of the catalog pages are a few pictures
from the Palace Museum collection showing some cloisonne works the factory
artists might have used for inspiration in their effort to update “traditional
arts.”
A cursory Google Lens search revealed recent auctions featuring what appear to be these colorful reproduction pieces, often listed as "Qing." However, I like to think that the purchasers, whether originally or at auction, were savvy enough to recognize attractive repros at bargain prices compared to actual imperial antiques.
Note: pictures can be opened in a new tab if an expanded view is desired.
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| From the Peking Museum collection |
