A Brown Guangdong Stoneware Meiping Jar No.2

A week ago, my other dealer caught me in a trap. She tempted me with a new item, presumably from a fresh dig, so fresh that according to her, it came only today from a mountain site north of Montemayor.  With it were several large shards from a broken dragon jar that lay in a pile in the shop.  It was typical 15th-16th century southern Chinese Meiping or Mei Ping vessel.  By Meiping, I meant that the shape followed the eponymous style- narrow base, wide curved shoulders, narrow neck.
 

A meiping (Chinese: 梅瓶; pinyin: méipíng; literally: "plum vase") is a Chinese vase shape.It is traditionally used to display branches of plum blossoms.The meiping was first made of stoneware during the Tang dynasty (618-907).It was originally used as a wine vessel, but since the Song dynasty (960–1279) it became popular as a plum vase and got its name "meiping". It is tall, with a narrow base spreading gracefully into a wide body, followed by a sharply-rounded shoulder, a short and narrow neck, and a small opening. -Wikipedia

The brown Guangdong stoneware jar is really beautiful- rustic and free from any restorations.  I bought it for $75 knowing that such prize catch rarely do come by- especially that considerable clay dirt was still stuck inside.  My dealer said there might be gold in it, of course I took that comment with a kilo of salt.  If this were all the burial effects (one small and one large jar), then the one interred may not have been a very rich person.

I went home and cleaned out the dirt which interestingly yielded nothing but, dirt.  The glaze has already deteriorated to the point that only the upper 1/4th of the jar still contains the brownish color.  The brownish glaze points to Guangdong in origin. I'm not sure if this could be Vietnamese, but from the glaze to the shape, it all points to Guangdong.

These small monthly additions really do add up to a nice grouping.  I hope more brownware will crop up in the near future.

Happy Collecting!

A Guangdong Stonewar Jar

This jar is part of a three-piece lot from my antique runner/dealer. He got this from the hinterlands of Infanta, another province north of mine.

This was the smallest of the three and I love the table-top quality of the piece. What's important is that it should be free of any restorations and the piece must be intact.  The glaze has degraded to the point that only the lugs and the rim has some specks of light olive-green glaze (more like ochre brown to me).  This must be due to the abrasive and acidic nature of the soil in which it was buried.

The ceramic itself looks like it was fired from a Guangdong kiln in southern China probably during the Song or Yuan dynasty.  It has similar characteristics with other brownware or stoneware pieces attributed to Southern Song.  Although I saw a couple of pieces in Cynthia Valdez's book which attributed them to Vietnam, I feel that the firing, the color of the glaze and the design still points to China.

Although not as desired by collectors as a Song Celadon ceramic, the rustic look makes it a stellar piece in anyone's living room or office.

There's a very similar jar over at the Freer & Sackler Galleries (Smithsonian) which pinpoints such wares to Guangdong province during the Song dynasty.

Jar with four horizontal lugs

• Stoneware with iron glaze
• 18.4 x 16 cm
• Quanzhou ware
• 12th-14th century, Southern Song or Yuan dynasty
• Origin: Quanzhou kilns, Quanzhou, Fujian province, China
• Gift of Osborne and Gratia Hauge, and Victor and Takako Hauge
• s2005.39

An Anecdote on a Precolonial Kendi

A month ago, a new dealer (let's call him Pedro) arrived at the house bearing an unusual item. It was a large terracotta pottery typical of Philippine Iron Age artifacts. I assumed it was based on whatever limited knowledge I had with the subject of Philippine precolonial pottery.  So little reading materials!

Pedro said that this jar or kendi was found in an island famous for precolonial potteries. I believe so famous that an author said that it should have its own "complex" like the Novaliches or the Kalanay complex.

Pedro then continued his spiel- that a group of local men found this item along with broken pottery shards underneath an uprooted coconut tree.  This may be a funerary vessel, indeed.

So I asked him that this could be a fake since most of the pottery from that island are simple in designs (e.g. Chevron) and shape. I don't think they ever had a concept of what a kendi was since a kendi would originally be from the Indian subcontinent. I even planted seeds of doubt that maybe some enterprising local knew about the craze for antique pottery and indulged himself in recreating antique copies to make a quick profit.

Pedro was aghast that I would make such an accusation. Never in his life did he try to peddle fakes, so he claimed.

I chimed, "But I only saw you today. How on earth will I know you're not selling fake goods?" It was a tug-of-war between us- me casting suspicion on his antiques, him denying it to the core.

Pedro quipped, "This is not fake. It's Thai made"

My eyebrows crinkled. "Thai? How could this be Thai? The only precolonial Thai pottery is Ban Chiang while the rest are mostly glazed like Sukhothai and Sawankhalok. Not this terracotta kendi!" I was confident in my aspersion.

"You're wrong. I know this comes from Thailand," his voice hardened.

He defended his sellers saying that they're just poor fisherfolk who don't know anything about antiques.  Pedro had a point. People wouldn't dream of mastering the intricacies of precolonial pottery and design just to make a few bucks in an otherwise buyer's market.  It's really illogical. Potters here would rather make pots for cooking rather than this gamble.  Probably not local potters, but perhaps they abound in China where the Communist natives are very enterprising when it comes to making fake porcelain then exporting it to gullible collectors. Sadly, fake Ming wares are already flooding the market.


Of course, I have to keep a poker face. Despite the twinkle in my eye, I had to reign in my lustful gaze.  I asked Pedro how much.

"Ten thousand Pesos," he coyly replied.

My eyelids fluttered in awe. "No one in his right mind would buy it for such an amount. It's simply too much. I wouldn't buy it even in perfect condition. And yours is already damaged goods. Look at the haphazard restoration!"

"But you'll never have another item like this," he hissed. "Last year another kendi was found on the same island with an elephant stamped design and it sold for 30,000 Pesos!" The then proceeded to name-drop several local collectors who are also collecting antique pottery.

"Well then, you ought to bring this item to them! They may very well pay far higher than what I will offer you. Besides, I don't need another rare pottery that I cannot sell.  I would rather fund my next Piso-fare Korea trip than spend on antiques."  I had to make him realize that I won't be bothered by his usual seller's tricks.

It came to a point when I was already fed up by our mercantile debate that I stood up and showed him the way to the gate.  As I opened it slightly, Pedro suddenly pleaded that P10,000 can be negotiated. I said, how much are the sellers willing to sell?  He said they don't know how much. He added that they merely found it and brought it over for him to repair and sell. It was already broken when they brought it to him.

I said, "since there's no capital involved, I can only offer you P2000 and P500 for commission."

Pedro wavered. He tried to up the price.

I added, "I changed my mind. P1000 for them and P500 for you. Take it or leave it."

His face was ashen and his jaw slacked. He was about to catch the sword with his hands.  "Ok. I'll take it. I'm giving it to you for so cheap, so you're lucky to have it."  I was thinking, he may have egged those poor fisherfolk with untold riches fleeced from rich foolish collectors.  Unfortunate for him it was not to his liking.   I believe after all those shopping trips abroad, the main skill anyone would eventually develop is the art of bargaining.

Several nights after that episode, I brought out my book so as to read on Precolonial pottery and found out that in my ignorance, I pummeled the antique dealer to a pulp.  I felt bad arguing with Pedro when all along his argument was correct.

BOOK #1:

This is my "bible" for antique Philippine pottery.  Even though it was originally published as a museum catalog, the people behind this book gave so much detailed yet brief information encompassing the entire breadth of Philippine Iron Age pottery that it has transcended its original purpose to become a go-to resource when it comes to Philippine precolonial ceramics. Kudos to these unsung heroes!

Edwin Bautista is the author of this chapter-essay on this enigmatic island.  He was succint, concise and inquisitive in his opinions about this kind of pottery, even though literature can be scant.

He wrote about several pottery from island that are Thai in origin.  Does this mean that the Philippines' first trade contact is not from China, but from Thailand?

 

 
BOOK #2:

I then proceeded to read J.C. Shaw's "Introducing Thai Ceramics Also Burmese and Khmer" (Thailand, 1988).  He further corroborated what E. Bautista wrote in the Pang-alay volume by touching on the Dvaravati era of Thai ceramics.

Upcoming Harringtons Lifestyle Auction

I do not, as a principle, advertise or practice unethical blogging just to get commissions or mileage.  I write what I want to write, and still keep my anonymity.  However, if there's an upcoming event that involves antiques, I think it's good to help the industry out in whatever little way.  I asked permission first if it was OK to post this and they emailed that it was so.

Harringtons Lifestyle Auction would like to invite you to its upcoming auction "A Touch of European History" on July 9, 2016 at 2:00pm.

Exquisite Vintage Furniture and Artworks from various countries of Europe will be up for auction.

Also included to be auction at NO RESERVE PRICE are ARTWORKS and COLLECTIBLES from an Iconic 5-star Hotel in Makati.

Preview and Registration on going. 

For more information call 02-5486986 / 0916-4674321

Antique Animal Pottery from Precolonial Philippines

My dealer brought this item (along with suspiciously done Ming Blue & White plates) just today. He left them for my perusal since I was not at home.  This is not yet paid for but I'll still post it, just in case the deal won't fall through.

This I believe is a funerary ceramic or pottery, bull or ox in form, which when struck gives of a metallic sound (high firing temperature?), and looks very well made considering the creative output of precolonial natives in the Philippines.  Though I wouldn't discount a local potter, I suspect this would be from the Tang or even Han dynasty. I could very well be wrong. Or maybe this was included with the trade ceramics brought over from Dvaravati empire in modern day Thailand.

Although the item has been repaired by a local restorer, it maintains its luster of being a rare and collectible piece of precolonial ceramic.

Perhaps a fake? Maybe. I'll try to get this for cheap since the guy would probably try to convince me that this is the rarest artifact from the Philippine Iron Age.  It has the craftsmanship of an artisan, but executed for a more utilitarian reason. No glaze. Was this for the children of the datus or merely a cheap decor of the time?

Sometimes, I just wish there are more local Philippine books on the matter. Then again, the probable reason why we don't have many scholarly treatises on Filipino archaeology is because the sites are already damaged, looted and destroyed by the time experts arrive on the field similar to Egyptian tombs.  Who's to blame but the pressures of economics and the lust for the rare.  And I'm sure those who are in the corridors of power are themselves avid collectors of such ceramics.

Nonetheless, without knowledge, we tend to give in to the Fates. So, to buy or not to buy?

Ambeth Ocampo on Prehistoric Ceramics

Articles on Philippine ceramics are hard to come by. Either they are written solely for the enjoyment of the academe or for collectors.  It's quite refreshing to see that historians like our very own Ambeth Ocampo delve into ceramics. As a reader, it really pays to elevate this hobby by means of writing. It gives people direction with perspectives from other authors. It sheds light into an otherwise esoteric affair. Mr. Ocampo wrote this for the Philippine Daily Inquirer:

A story prehistoric ceramics tell

As an avid collector of antiques since the 1970s, it was inevitable that Rosita Arcenas ended up with over 500 pieces of Chinese and Southeast Asian ceramics, mostly excavated in the Philippines. The pleasing shapes and varied hues lent color to her home. Now well-curated in the University of San Carlos Museum in Cebu, the ceramics have become tangible proof of a lively maritime trade between the Philippines and its neighbors from the 11th through the 19th centuries. Most of these ceramics predate the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521; these pots are prehistoric, though not so far back to the time of dinosaurs and cavemen; rather, these ceramics were made in the period before written records came to existence in the Philippines.

History is a narrative, and the story of these ceramics is the same as those told in the ceramic galleries of the National Museum and by the Roberto Villanueva Collection in the Ayala Museum—stories from artifacts rather than in books and archival manuscripts. Part of our nation’s story comes from old pots that illustrate trade and civilization in these islands long before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Many of these pots are older than the name “Filipinas” such that the pioneering prehistorian H. Otley Beyer defined the 10th to early 16th centuries as a period different from the earlier Stone Age and Iron Age. Based on his ceramic finds, he aptly described this time as “the Philippines in the Porcelain Age.”

Arab and Chinese traders encountered small seafaring communities by the coasts and waterways of the Philippine archipelago in the 9th century. These communities were headed by chiefs, and varied in size and political complexity. Trade was conducted through barter; silk, iron, parasols, glass and porcelain brought by the Chinese were exchanged for the Filipinos’ pearls, tortoise shell, yellow wax, betel nut, abaca fabric, cotton and provisions of fresh water, meat, vegetable and fruit for their onward journey.

Traces of this trade are the ceramics that, in our museums, most people find boring because it seems that once you have seen one blue-and-white Ming plate, you have seen them all. But if you take the time to give these ceramics a second look you will realize that the high-fired imported ceramics are different from low-fired Philippine earthenware; these are impermeable, glazed, ornamented with iron spots or with freely painted auspicious symbols in Chinese or Tibetan characters, as well as with images of pine, prunus, peach, twin, fish, twin Mandarin ducks, dragon chasing pearl, phoenix, and frolicking Fu dogs. These images meant something to the Chinese; what did they come to mean to the early Filipinos? Some high-fired plates and bowls, ringing like a bell when flicked with a finger, came to be used for rituals because they were believed to possess magic qualities.

In time, and because of their design and utility, these imported ceramics became prestige objects that proclaimed their owner’s wealth and status. When Magellan arrived in Cebu, he and his men were served food on porcelain plates.

Most of the ceramics were found in graves, obviously placed there as furniture the soul could bring to the afterlife. Small dishes, globular jarlets and other ceramics accompanied the dead, and of these some of the most prized, then and now, are the miniatures: square jarlets with dragons on the handles; globular jarlets with two ears, or another with lobes that resemble the  balimbing  fruit. These 14th-century Yuan “balimbing jarlets” that come in plain white  qingbai  glaze, or white with brown iron spots, or with floral designs in cobalt blue or underglaze red, are significant because these were not found in China. They were found only in archeological sites in the Philippines and parts of Indonesia, which suggests that they were made specially for export to the Southeast Asian market.

Also prized by collectors are small ceramic pieces of boys with water buffalo. These were used as water droppers on scholars’ tables where water was added to an ink stone on which ink sticks were ground to produce the ink for Chinese calligraphy. What ancient Filipinos used these jarlets and water droppers for, aside from grave furniture, remains a mystery.

Then there are elegant ewers in the shape of the auspicious double gourd with graceful handles in the form of dragons. They come in three types: white qingbai glaze, white qingbai glaze with brown iron spots, or white qingbai glaze painted with floral sprays in cobalt blue. Used as wine vessels in China, what were they used for in the Philippines? A simpler and smaller version of these can be seen in Chinese restaurants today, as droppers for soy sauce or vinegar. In a Filipino home these can be used as vessels for patis.

When the Filipinos were converted to Christianity, their burial practices changed. They were buried on consecrated ground near churches and towns. Porcelain and other pabaon were no longer placed in graves or coffins. But old habits die hard, and in the 21st century Filipinos still practice a form of pabaon by throwing flowers into the grave of loved ones at the time of burial; or by leaving a cut rosary, paper currency, or other keepsakes in the coffin to accompany the dead in the afterlife.

Next time you get bored with a museum display of ancient pots, give them a second look and imagine how they must have figured in our prehistory and how they figure in our lives today.

Read more: http://opinion.inquirer.net/94402/story-prehistoric-ceramics-tell

Antique Philippine Map: Bellin

 
Any map about the Philippines is highly collectible, well especially if you're living in this beloved isles.  During the 17-19th centuries, British, French, German and Dutch explorers and colonizers had been busy building their empires, and with them, cartographers had also been busy producing maps of their colonies.  These northern Europeans have already eclipsed Spain and Portugal, which is perhaps why a lot of Philippine maps were in a language other than Spanish. Names like Bellin, Moll, Mallet, Justus Perthes, etc., pop up from time to time when looking for antiquarian maps especially in Ebay.  Sometimes you shall see an Algue, but that's it.

The ones I purchased online were made by Bellin. I started collecting Asian maps, the earlier the better. No Philippine map then was reasonably priced. A lot of sellers really put such a high premium on these paper relics. I do not know the exact reason why the Philippines is way more expensive than say, that of Bali or Japan.  Is it because demand is greater than the supply? Or is it because there are many Filipino collectors stripping available supply thus, driving prices sky high?

These maps are actually inserts of travel books where they based their cartographic accuracy either on previously published maps (e.g. Bellin on Murillo Velarde map), or with geographic descriptions by recently arrived explorers.

Anyhow, one fateful day, I spotted a pair of Philippine Bellin maps for sale online for less than $80. I was shocked and immediately bought it.  I was on collectors' "cloud nine", the state of being exactly opposite of buyer's remorse.  Though my budget restricts me from owning the original Velarde, the Bellin suffices- especially that the island of St. Jean/John was erroneously copied.

The map was like a holy grail for me. Elusive, expensive, and fragile. I was thinking of having it framed, but then again, all the framers here do not have acid-free archival matting and UV protective glass. If I do this in the US, it may cost me around $60 a frame. Yikes! I haven't framed them yet though. I just take them out for a quick appreciation then return them back to their envelopes. And dream of another day of having them framed.

Santos Series 02: Santo Nino

Sto. Ninos, as carved wooden antiques, are hard to come by.  This one has been with my family since our house was built.  Though the texture of the carving is somewhat similar to 19th century, I suspect this was done during before or right after the war.  The face (cara) and both hands are finely made by skilled artisans who I suspect were under the famous Maximo Vicente school.  The cape and the base is of heavy dark wood probably ironwood.  This is all speculation and intuition.

I won't probably sell this for sentimental reason since this piece reminds me of family.  There are just some objects that you want to cherish because it reminds you of a period in life where happiness and love prevailed. 

A Thought on Precolonial Philippine Pottery

I was going through this blog and I noticed that the most-read entry was about the iron age/pre-colonial Philippine funerary pottery.  I guess a lot of people are indeed interested in something so mysterious and so unknown.

Back in school, Philippine history curriculum would generally start during the era of Magellan and Pigafetta as if their arrival heralded our own origins.  Such a notion belies the fact that we do have a civilization before the Spaniards- one that has a written language in the form of the baybayin script and a well-developed artistic expression. They simply disappeared when Spanish priests burned almost all of the remaining objects like anitos and bamboo manuscripts.  Anyhow, it's simply sad that we as a nation has passively chosen to exclude our pre-colonial past- a timeline that may well have extended back to the days of the Srivijayan and Madjapahit empires.

These pottery, excavated from the islands of the interior, are a stark reminder of that lost civilization, one that predates the the Age of Contact. They are here with us now because they can neither degrade nor decompose with the march of time.   Yet, even if they do see the light of day with a handful of collectors scrambling over them, not a lot of Filipinos covet them.  Maybe because they look ordinary and utilitarian as compared with the gorgeous Swatow wares from China or the green celadon plates from Thailand.  Really, which of the two would scream Old Rich? A roomful of Blue & White wares or a roomful of precolonial pottery?

 A lot of collectors are familiar with the Age of Contact because there are many objects imported from ceramic-producing states like China, Annam, and Siam. Hence, the quantity helped fuel the passion in this field for they have been quite accessible.

The irony with collectors is that we tend to celebrate, study and analyze the excavated ceramic finds of imported wares and spout off expert opinions on mundane details like their ceramic glazes as if we were Roxanna Brown, but we are faced with a blank wall if we are asked about lifestyle and history of the native Filipinos who used them.  Moreso, we collectors are faced with a bigger blank wall when faced with indigenous precolonial iron-age pottery (apart from the Maitum anthropomorphic artifacts).  These pots should have been given a larger share of attention because these are evidence of our early Philippine civilization. These are our own, not imported from some highly developed civilization. Hence, they must be studied intensively.   There are several highly specialized books on its archaeology like the recently published tome on the Lemery diggings. Seriously, it would take more than this handful of books to spark a frenzy, or at least an interest, among newbie antique collectors. Seriously people.

Harringtons Lifestyle Auction - June 2015

Harringtons Lifestyle Auction invites you to an afternoon of Fine Arts and Collectibles.  Featuring paintings by some of our top Filipino Artists, Unique Memorabilias, Sculpture, Furniture, Watches and Antiquities. 

The event promises a wide assortment of items to find and treasure. 

Preview and Registration on going

Auction:  June 27 at 1:00pm onwards

Jose Algue's Atlas de Filipinas

From the blurb of Lot.847 from Old World Auctions, it describes the atlas as such:

 A hard to find, superbly detailed and beautifully colored atlas with two title pages, the first in Spanish; "Atlas de Filipinas Coleccion de 30 Mapas" with attribution to Jose Algue (Director del Observatorio de Manila), and the second, with an introduction by Henry S. Pritchett, is titled "Atlas of the Philippine Islands", and is GPO Special Publication No. 3. With four pages of tables followed by an extensive 17 page index of place names, this example is a mine of information. There are 30 full-page maps published by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, but printed with Spanish titles, and each is presented in eye-catching full color.

The nice thing about catalogs is that the level of description is quite high. Yes, the same atlas can fetch as much as $450 in some auction houses and local collectors love to disbound it and sell individual maps for such a high price. Know that such colonial paper artifacts are quite rare to come by in its native Philippines because of the humidity, heat, mildew that can wreck a perfectly nice map.  Also, loss brought about by war and disinterest added to the scarcity of the atlas.  This is why I cannot fault sellers making a killing by selling a single map to someone from that area.  I saw someone from Ebay trying to sell a piece for $35-50.  My golly. So the best bet is to get it overseas.

I got a couple copies of the atlas in such a poor state. However, being in a poor state does not mean the maps are affected.  There may be scuffings on the cover, a slight waterstain on the frontispiece and discoloration on the back but the maps are all immaculately preserved.  Do not bother buying a full set if there are foxings, mildews or crap affecting the maps themselves. I thinks it's worth next to nothing. Get one that's clean.

 I love this atlas acutally. Thank you, Fr. Algue for the effort.  All the pieces are collectible, scarce but not rare, and since they are in Spanish (though published in the US), they lend a nice Hispanic colonial air to it. 

Looking through the maps, one would see towns and villages that we all knew.  I have looked at the Cavite area and some villages that were printed on the map have already been gobbled up by towns rendering them quasi-invisible. Also you will enjoy looking at the Spanish routes and roads especially at the absence of such in the Cordillera region.  You will learn the old names of provinces that have been broken up or renamed.  This atlas is such a joy to read even if half of it is already lost to the ashes of history.

If you're into Filipiniana, this is a must in your collection.