|
|
|||
|
[?]Subscribe To This Site
|
Buying Antique PorcelainWatch out when buying Chinese antique porcelain!
When shopping for antiquities you will always come in contact with the thorny issue of provenance! Provenance information relates to second-hand knowledge given by the dealer/seller and does not mean an antique item was properly identified or verified previously. Neither is it a guarantee that antiquities are genuine or that the original owner was capable of identifying all items correctly. Antique dealers who have really no intention to deceive customers in the first place may use provenance to show how legitimate an item is. This is more likely if they are not expert at identifying Chinese porcelain. It covers for their inability to judge...
Tips for antique porcelain buying
Do some research und you will find that buying authentic antiques in China is difficult, and legally exporting them is often impossible. Don't deceive yourself. You cannot get better or cheaper antiques directly in China because China generally is "cheap". China is strictly protecting its ancient cultural objects and artifacts. As a collector/buyer of Chinese antiques you should know that China currently prohibits the export of antique items over 100 years old. This is especially true for high-class porcelain from private kilns and all from official kilns. According to more recent information it now seems that even the export of old-looking items of less age than that may be restricted, possibly because some antiques that are "younger" than 100 years were made the same way and look the same as older ones. If you are buying online, either Ebay or otherwise, you need to be especially careful of who sells Chinese antiques. Obviously, there is a high risk that antique items dispatched from China are reproductions or fakes due to the reasons stated above. Domestic trading of a certain type of ceramics from the Tang dynasty has also been forbidden for a while. Better forget it... you won't be able to get a real one of these directly from China, not legally.
Porcelain age signs
|
|
|
|
|
|||