Featured Chinese Nonya ware Kamching

Picked this up today. Saw a flash of Chinese enamel and made a stampede towards it. Looking at the porcelain I think it has some age. Not sure what to make if the mark on the base. Its quite distorted. Stands about 12cm tall.

 

Looks like a 20th century mark. Have you checked Gothenborg?

Despite its name, Nyonyaware was made in China, not in The Straits.

 

Looks poss newer to me.I sure the heck wish Oxfam would open a few stores in my hood.

 

I don't know enough about it to even know what the straits is. I've seen the term flash up during my searches but not something I'm familiar with.

 

You don't. They are usually crazy expensive and seem to be trying to rid their stores of all bric a brac. Just turning into clothes shops

 

Yuk-Sounds like ShillWill....well,at least you live in a lovely area.

 

Or the Ill Will as I call them. Anything old or good goes to online sales and the send the junk to the stores. Once in a while you get the mistakes, but mostly not. Oxfam used to be a good place to shop, but then again so did Ill Will.

 

The seal on the bottom is a maker's mark of Cheng Yitai (程義泰). I found something similar on this Singaporean auction site (photo below):
https://bid.atasbid.com/lots/view/1...o-early-republican-period-peranakan-porcelain
As you can see in the web address, this piece, if the same as what is pictured, is late Qing to early Republic of China and was used in the area of Singapore by people of the mixed Chinese-Malay Peranakan culture.

 

Great. Thanks. I'm amazed you can read it.

 

The Straits are the sea straits in Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, for instance Malacca Strait, Java Strait, Madura Strait. These straits were important in international trade, especially trade from the Spice Islands in Indonesia.

Many international merchants settled along the Straits. These merchants came mostly from China, India, Yemen, Portugal, and the Netherlands. Many of them married local women, and communities of people of mixed origin emerged. These groups facilitated contact with locals, which promoted trade.
One of the most important and most visible mixed communities is that of the Straits Chinese, currently often referred to as Peranakan.

The term Nyonya Ware stems from this group.
Nyonya means Mrs. In the past the Nyonyas were only European and Dutch-Indonesian ladies, but since ca 1900 Peranakan ladies were also known as Nyonya, because by that time in Indonesian colonial society their status was on a par with that of Dutch-Indonesian ladies (but below European ladies). The term spread throughout the Straits.

 

Ah thanks. Starting to make sense. I just blindly copied and pasted the description of a similar result from Google image search.

 

I received this back from Bonham's. Not sure if it clears matters up or adds to the confusion


Thank you for your enquiry, this is an example of 19th Century Chinese Straits porcelain. It has a following but worth around £100-300 so would be too low in value for a Bonhams specialist Asian arts auction.

 

Well, la-di-dah! I would be super happy with £100-300!

 

And I am. I was referring to them describing the straits as Chinese.

 

You can't be experts in everything, and remember that Bonhams doesn't have Antiquers on tap. They could if they wanted to of course; it would mean having a big FREE supplemental research team on tap. But they're not that bright.

 

I think Bonhams is just saying that the porcelain was used by the ethnic Chinese who lived in the area of Singapore and Malaysia--also known as the Straits, as explained above.

 

They are not ethnic Chinese though. They are an old mix of Chinese and locals, which is why their culture is so specific. They are also not confined to the small area of Malaysia and Singapore, Peranakan culture is found throughout the Indo-Malay world and in some neighbouring Indo-Malay-influenced regions.
The Indo-Malay world consists of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

There are also ethnic Chinese in the region, in Indonesia they are known as Totoks ('pure' blood, also used for Europeans), whereas the Straits Chinese are called Peranakan (pertaining to child, meaning child of the land).
The term Peranakan was first coined in West Java, Indonesia.
The Chinese Totoks have a Chinese culture, which is recognizably different from Peranakan culture.
Most of the Totoks arrived in the region in the 19th century, when there was already a long-established Peranakan culture.

Just an example of how long-established Peranakan culture and ethnicity is: I can trace my own (small) Peranakan roots back to the Medieval East Javanese Majapahit Empire, where one of my ancestors was a Captain of the Sino-Peranakan community of Tuban and advisor to the royal court. His daughter married into the royal family.
Most Malay foremothers of the Peranakan were not so lucky though, many of them were girls who were sold into slavery. But from their pain grew a fascinating culture.

Most of the Straits are in Indonesia btw, for obvious reasons. It was the centre of the trade of minerals, (precious) metals and hardwoods, as well as spices from for instance Sumatra and the Moluccas. It is much larger than Malaysia and Singapore and it consists of over 17500 islands, so plenty of maritime straits. Along its many coasts were/are countless Peranakan communities as well as Chinese Totok ones.

 

Naaahh, tell us what u really think ..! .......