Pottery platter (Chinese?)- now what did I buy?

I bought it because I don't know much about pottery, and it looked interesting. The surface on the top looks like orange peel, but the unglazed bit is orange-y in color instead. The decoration looks all hand painted under glaze, but there aren't any marks on the back. It cost $1.50 so I figured I wasn't getting in too deep.

 

This shot's a little better.

 

Looks modern to me. Chinese knock-off.

 

I gotta agree with moreotherstuff.

 

About what I figured, but it'll make a nice "put food on it and please don't give it back" plate.

 

Evelynb, you think like I do when food needs to be taken to another house on short notice (as in an illness or death in a family). I have on occasion put a piece of masking tape on the bottom of such a dish with "No need to return this dish (and my last name)" written on the tape (especially if it is someone/a family DH knows better than I do).

 

This is certainly a suspicious piece: the crinkle glaze seems overdone and there's that full-orange base. Nonetheless, modern Chinese fakes don't have such detailed hand design, except on high-end pieces. There's just no money in all that handwork on something like this, unless it was intended as a very serious made-to-fool piece. And at least from the photos, the brushwork and shading look pretty well done.

 

Hi,
I have to concur with khl, it looks like some stuff I had in the 60s from China. It was bought in a flea market in Chinatown NYC. Mine were green and a purpleblue. They were bowls and handless cups. Same orange bottoms. The new stuff have that brown wiped look to look antique.
greg

 

I always thought the old stuff had the orange peel underneath instead of on top. Another reason I didn't go over two bucks. The brown rim is sloppy too. I don't know if it was meant to fool or just meant for the original version of Pier One.

 

Evelyb30,

There is absolutely nothing knock-off, suspicious or fake about your item.


What you have is a typical 18th/early-19th C. Chinese export tray/platter made for the Western market.

The shape and underglaze decoration, typical of the period.

The orange-peel, typical of the period.

The brown-slip (sometimes gilt) decorated rim, typical of the period.

The unglazed base burnt orange (sometimes brown) from the firing, typical of the period.


You should always take the information given to you within chat rooms and forums such as this with a grain of salt. Your $2 buy is probably worth around $200 - $400+ IMO. Nice buy, nice piece, congrats!

 

Hi Evelyn,
See I told you it wasn't junk.
greg

 

Evelyn: if you're not going to take the opinion of people on line and in forums like these, don't take the opinion of anyone on line and in forums like these. Get an hands-on opinion from someone who knows.

 

I without question agree. Hands-on evaluations and opinions from experts in the field of your item(s) are almost always best.

Example: a year or so ago over on the other board, I posted a group of what I thought to be ancient Hellenistic figures within a Finds Thread. A well respected and experienced long term regular poster was quick to give what I thought was a reckless opinion regarding the authenticity of this figure group (basically, he said they were knock-offs/fakes that he could currently buy at $20 each). After a bit of research and digging around, we took the group to an expert in the filed of antiquities over in Manhattan, NYC. The expert not only gave us his opinion regarding the figures and their authenticity, but he purchased almost every piece except two.

So yes, hands-on evaluations and opinions given by experts experienced in the field of your item(s) are almost always best.

 

I buy pottery and porcelain with an eye to "that's cool" rather than "that's worth money" - mainly because I don't have a clue about much of it beyond the usual suspects.

 

I'm going to assume the above means, thank you!

And my reply would be, you're most welcome.

 

Yep. I'm always grateful to run into someone who knows more about the things I pick up than I do.