Topic: Black Glazed Orienal Style Vase: Chinese, European or other?

[Mosquito]

Trying to find out more about this recent purchase. The shape looks very Chinese, and, at first glance, so does the decoration. However, on closer inspection it appears to be an underglaze transfer print which would be unusual for a Chinese piece.

The paste is quite whitish but with several small black and brown specks in it. The vase has a pale green glaze, then has been decorated with a matt black glaze over the top, with the decorated portions showing through. The vase appears to have some age: it's slightly wonky and shows plenty of wear. The green glaze also shows quite a bit of iridescence, especially where it borders the black glaze.

So far I'm a bit stumped as to origin. The shape looks very Qing dy Chinese, but, in terms of technique, the decoration does not. I'm now wondering if it might be a European piece in a Chinese style, or possibly a Chinese vase which has been clobbered. The Gotheborg site also mentions that transfers were used on Chinese porcelain for a brief period in the early 20th century so perhaps that is another option, though I have some doubts about the paste and foot finish.

If anyone has any ideas, I'd be grateful to hear them!

Thanks

Steven

[Tigerchips]

That's a lovely vase, i notice some orange on the base rim so perhaps it is Chinese?

[Anne]

Is the internal glaze celadon, Steven?

[Mosquito]

That's a lovely vase, i notice some orange on the base rim so perhaps it is Chinese?

Yes, looking again, I see what you mean. There is a slight orangey colour to the areas on the foot where the glaze is thin or missing. I've also had a closer look at the paste on one corner where there is a chip. It does appear to be a hard paste porcelain which is again might point towards a Chinese origin.

Is the internal glaze celadon, Steven?

I guess it would be classed as Celadon. It's a pale green translucent glaze. It seems the vase was glazed all over in this colour before the black was added at a later firing. I've added another picture of the base which shows the colour. Again, it does look very Chinese.

Thus far then it seems the likeliest option is that this is Chinese but dates from the period from the late 19th to early 20th century when transfer prints were more commonly seen. I'll keep looking though as I haven't been able to find another piece in this exact technique. While I can find a lot of black glazed pieces, theyall seem to be in the 'famille noire' palette; i.e. black over famille verte decoration, rather than over a simpler celadon glaze like this.

[Mosquito]

It’s been a long time, but I think I may have made some more progress towards identifying this piece. It’s been sat at the back of my desk, but today I was feeling curious and picked it up to look at it again. I realised that it doesn’t really feel like porcelain. I shone a flashlight inside and found that the vase isn’t noticeably translucent. I had it down as porcelain due to the hardness and the conchoidal look of the chipping to the base corner. Therefore I started thinking it could be ironstone or similar: something hard and somewhat vitrified but not true porcelain.

Searching for ironstone vase brought up a few Mason’s ironstone vases in this shape, all with some form of Chinese inspired decor and a couple with matching lids. While this vase isn’t marked, and I haven’t found the exact decor on a marked piece, it does look a promising avenue.

Similar shape vase with mark: https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/mason-ironstone-vase-22-c-34f2a5533d

Rather more fancy Mason’s vase but showing a similar matte black glaze: https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/7426162_0091-ashworthmason-s-ironstone-dragon-vase

[Anne]

It looks like the same shape as the Mason's ones for sure Steven.