Description: A good Chinese straw-glazed Sui Dynasty (581-618) pottery figure of a lady. I am sure it is Guanyin but I will let you decide. Modelled standing with high head dress and flowing robes, usual age related wear.
Irv Graham
Daoguang Mark And Period Bamboo Snuff Bottle
Description: A good bamboo snuff bottle, carved with a pair of mandarin ducks in a lotus pond. The representation of ducks in a lotus pond as an attractive theme on porcelains has its origins in the Tang period and also gained appeal during the Yuan dynasty on blue and white porcelains.
The depiction of two ducks is related to fidelity as well as harmony. A pair of mandarin ducks, yuan yang, stands for marital fidelity or harmony as they mate for life. In association with lotus, homophonous with the word for harmony (he), they can stand for a wish for sons.
Pair Of Qianlong Ruby Ground Sedan Vases Sell For £324,000
It’s always advisable to declutter ones home on occasion. Partly, this is just to make you feel a little better and more comfortable in your own surroundings. Tidying up is often proclaimed to be good for the soul. In addition, however, you may just find that your home is hosting unexpected treasures.
That was certainly the case for one couple in West London, who learned that a matching pair of Chinese vases that had gathered dust on their mantle dated back to the Qianlong Emperor. Agreeing to send the vases to auction, the value was truly spectacular – the couple had been sitting on a slice of Chinese history for decades.
The couple called in an antiques expert for a valuation of their possessions, as they were planning a house move. Among the items valued were two Chinese vases, which were an inheritance gift obtained in the early 1950s. Ever since, the vases had sat atop a fireplace. They were deemed to be an aesthetically pleasing decoration, and nothing more.
Read morePair Of Qianlong Ruby Ground Sedan Vases Sell For £324,000
The UK’s First Premium Craft Baijiu – A PROPER Baijiu For The Purist!
V.I.P Jiu 8 is Britain’s first authentic Imperial craft baijiu that truly embraces and celebrates the history and traditions of China’s favourite spirit.
V.I.P Jiu 8’s unique recipe was first conceived 300 years ago by one of China’s greatest ever emperors and only now, due to an extraordinary set of circumstances has the original recipe been painstakingly and authentically recreated.
The story begins back in 2014, when V.I.P’s creator Irving Graham bid £300 for a cracked Chinese wine cup at an auction in southern England. He later discovered it was a piece from the Imperial Chinese collection once housed in the Forbidden City during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor between 1654-1722.
Read moreThe UK’s First Premium Craft Baijiu – A PROPER Baijiu For The Purist!
Cat Lady’s Qianlong Reticulated Vase Sells For 9 Million
A Chinese porcelain vase that lay hidden in open view for fifty years sold for nine million dollars at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong. The eighteenth-century vase was found in an eighty-year-old woman’s home in Europe by art consultant Johan Bosch van Rosenthal.
The owner is said to have inherited the vase which cost a meagre fifty-six dollars when first purchased from an auction house in 1954.
The reticulated vase, which is very fragile withstood the attention of the owners four cats. “It is a miracle that this extraordinarily fragile vase survived half a century in a home surrounded by countless pets,” said Nicolas Chow, chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, in a press release.
Read moreCat Lady’s Qianlong Reticulated Vase Sells For 9 Million
Kweichow Moutai – Can You Spot The Cultural Blunder? Is Moutai Now In Name Only?
Is Kweichow Moutai the worlds biggest baijiu brand living on past glories? Has Kweichow Moutai SOULED OUT? Is Kweichow Moutai now in name only?
Let’s look at a few of Moutai’s past and present glories.
I recently wrote an article titled (Why is Kweichow Moutai so expensive?) within that article is the following passage.
Moutai is marketed as the national spirit of China. This really became the case in 1949, when Chairman Mao rose to prominence. Mao and his comrades toasted the founding of the People’s Republic of China with Moutai. Perhaps that was because it was the tipple of choice of Zhou Enlai, the Chinese premier and Mao’s second-in-command.
Read moreKweichow Moutai – Can You Spot The Cultural Blunder? Is Moutai Now In Name Only?
Cheng International – Fenjiu Baijiu Launches UK Master Class
Specialist premium Baijiu importer and distributor, Cheng International, is launching a four-part online masterclass in the UK, starting on July 13.
The course, to be held on Zoom, will be aimed at key players in the UK drinks trade. Qiqi Chen, Managing Director of leading exporter Cheng International, said it wanted to offer these events to “encourage people to learn about Baijiu and understand how baijiu it is made”. The world’s largest selling liquor has a deep history in Chinese culture that will also be examined.
Each masterclass will demonstrate how Baijiu can really enhance the range of specialised retailers selling premium spirits. There will also be baijiu food pairing and baijiu cocktail making demonstrations.
Read moreCheng International – Fenjiu Baijiu Launches UK Master Class
A Famille Rose Paste Box Republic Period (1912-49), Iron-red Shilu Mark
Description: A good famille rose paste box and cover, finely decorated with a pair of quails on a grassy embankment with chrysanthemum, rocks and bamboo, the side with a decorative border in blue enamel. This bears the studio shop mark Shi Lu of the celebrated studio owner Liang Duishi.
Read moreA Famille Rose Paste Box Republic Period (1912-49), Iron-red Shilu Mark