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Inherited from wealthy family in late 1920's - Chinese or Japanese?

by Cynthia Gurin
(Stuart, FL)

Can anyone give me a better handle on identifying what was originally an exquisitely beautiful baluster vase with flared neck? My late father inherited it from a very wealthy family back in the 1920's. When we were growing up my father always referred to it as the "Ming", and I find similar colors in use in Doucai Chenghua period pieces. I need to properly identify it for the insurance company representing moving company which destroyed it. Here's a page giving both background of the vase as well as a number of photos in addition to the ones uploaded here:
www.the-office.com/damage20-vase.htm
Many thanks for any help you can give me.

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Jul 20, 2011
 vase
by: peter

Hi Cynthia,
If this vase is Chinese, it cannot be from anytime before the second half of the 20th century, I'm afraid. The painting style doesn't fit to Chinese traditional porcelain painting styles of the 1920s, or earlier.
Ming, or Doucai can be exluded, in my opinion. With Doucai the shapes are first drawn in blue, under the glaze. Then, after firing, the other colors are filled in on top.
In the pictures it looks as if the blue and other colors were painted at the same time.

This decoration looks more like the artistic style of painting used in traditional Japanese paintings; or perhaps European Chinoiserie, imitating Asian designs. In both cases it could be quite older than a Chinese vase with the same design could be, because the Chinese started only later in the 20th century to use this style of decoration. I bet it is Japanese.

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