Pair of 100 yrs old 8" Chinese plates

Aug 22, 2011

plates
by: peter

Hi Joan,
I've had a look at the larger pictures at photobucket.com/bluewhchinesebowls.
They are still not detailed enough, but sufficient to come to a conclusion.

Basically, on the surface of it, this plate looks like Qing dynasty export porcelain.
However, further inspection convinced me that this is a more recent imitation or copy.

In my view this "Certificate of Antiquity" is worthless and probably outright false. I never heard of certificates of antiquity, usually that would be a Certificate of Authenticity, I would think.
If the issuing "authority" is real I do not know, but the plate is not antique either, in my view.

Usually, when we check for authenticity, even if we find a single point that does not support the possible age of an antique, then we must conclude the item is NOT antique.

In your case I think the plate is more recently made, while the certificate could be a fake... or just an improperly issued document.

Reasoning:
Superficially, the tone of blue, decoration type, etc, all seem to support Qing dynasty export porcelain.
However, export porcelain was always handpainted. These images give the impression that all or at least some elements are printed.
I give you here a link (http://gallery.chinese-antique-porcelain.com/qing_cup_dish5.html) to a late Qing dynasty export porcelain item. You will see that wherever you look, there are no two petals or leaves exactly the same. That is typical for handpainted porcelain.

With your item, on the other hand, the roundels (circles) in the middle all have a center point, but however you turn the plate, the point is always off-center to the right.
Another point causing doubt is the leaf-and-flower decoration band around the center. There are four leaves and three flowers (roundels) in each unit, and each and every one looks the same. E.g., the top leaf on the right side is always a bit higher, the central flower is always larger, and looks exactly the same way. These are all signs of mass production and printing, I'm afraid. With handpainting no two of the elements would be exactly the same.

This leaves me no other way than to conclude that this item is not antique.
If the other plate looks the same, I'm afraid you may have been had. I recommend you also read a bit on this page: http://www.chinese-antique-porcelain.com/antique-chinese-porcelain.html
You should never rely on certificates from sources of whose integrity you are not sure.

I recomment you ask for a second opinion.

Pair of 100 yrs old 8" Chinese plates

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Pair of 100 yrs old 8" Chinese plates