Asian Influence on a Philippine Cup

A couple of years ago when I contracted the "collecting" fever, I got hold of several precolonial pottery that were on offer in a couple of antique shops.  I had to sift through what must have been fakes and restored items and thankfully, got hold of some that were choice pieces. That is, until several days later, I noted that one of the pieces had a restoration mark which I had initially missed.

This goblet or chofa or cup is one of those choice pieces I got. It's quite light, the potting quite thin and it has that iron oxidation on the clay.  This I think was sourced from one of the surrounding islands of my province that has been a rich source of precolonial pottery. No restoration so far.

This is the only precolonial object I have encountered that is in a goblet form.  Maybe funerary, maybe utilitarian, who knows what purpose this cup is for.  The strange thing about this is that the design is not indigenous to the islands. The motif could be either Ming or Vietnamese with the wide lotus petals on the neck.  If it were indigenous, it would sport linear or curvilinear or chevron designs instead, not stylized floral. Hence, this must have been created during the Age of Contact probably between 12th-15th century wherein Filipinos have a great deal of trade with China and Annam and Sukhothai.  Ceramic goods that were traded may have become the basis for the form and design of such antique.  Until then, more study should be made in this direction. And more publications should be read.

Clearly, it's too strange, too specialized, too anachronistic for this to be judged as a fake.

Similar types of precolonial pottery are seen in one of the volumes of Filipino Heritage.

Shards of Ming Dynasty Ceramics

These are some of my representative pieces that I've asked my runner to collect. Collectors CAN ask for a ridiculously low price for these loose chunks of ceramic history. Runners and dealers tend to value Ming shards more because they wanted these glued, restored, or recreated and they sell them for anything from a hundred to a couple of thousand pesos. Oftentimes, if the pieces are too broken up, these get to be left out and eventually ignored. For me, I share the same sentiments with those who create jewelry pendants out of these blue&white pieces, for these seemingly worthless objects can become informative and valuable.

Valuable in fact that in China (and on Ebay), real Ming dynasty shards (or sherds) are now being sold for a hefty sum.  Reason? You get to study the glaze, the potting, the design, the type of pigment used, etc. Aside from looking at photos inside ceramic catalogues, having the real physical object in your hand is double the learning process.  And with it, you get to have a sense of what is fake and what is not.  Even if it's not the whole piece, you get to know the feel and the glaze and differentiate if whether it's from an Imperial kiln of Jingdezhen or from an Export Zhangzhou kiln.

Isn't it a beauty to see the cross-section of a Ming dynasty charger? No need to break an expensive piece, just ask for a shard instead.

Sherds of Song Dynasty

These are a few of the Song or Sung Dynasty sherds that I've collected these couple of years.  I'm saving these for some architectural project in the far far future. From Lonquan celadons, to bluish Northern Song and to brownish Southern Song, these shards represent actually the variety of ceramics that's buried underneath the Philippine soil.  Collecting these are more for personal enjoyment knowing that long ago, these were used by precolonial Filipinos.  In these you tend to appreciate the potting, the glaze, the cracleur and the art of Chinese ceramics.

A Guangdong Brownware Jar with Dragons

This small brownware jar is part of the lot I bought along with the Ming chicken water dropper.  This kind of jar is quite strange because of its size. It's approximately ~15-20cm and looks like a small earthenware vase.  It has four pressed lugs with one lug chipped off. It has this brown glaze with signs of glaze degradation.

 There are two stylized dragons adorning the body and around it are incised wave-like pattern. Dragons are more predominant during the Ming era as opposed to the unadorned Song dynasty vessels which concur the age of this item.  Thus, looking at the motif and the make, I would say this small jar is from the Guangdong area of Southern China during the Ming dynasty.

It is similar to the one published by Cynthia Valdez in her seminal book: A Thousand Years of Stoneware Jars.

It does look nice when it sits on top of your table or desk, doesn't it?