Featured Small cinnabar vase

I picked this up a while back.i have done a bit of research and think its cinnabar.

It measures a little over 8 inches tall.looking for similar eg online but it looks like a minefield.
How can you tell the quality of it and when maybe it dates from

Thank you once again.

 

Key to quality is the carving itself: how fine and detailed and sharp and precise is it all.

The other important factor is if it's actual real cinnabar, which is older and produced through a toxic process involving mercury, or if it's newer and resin (plastic).

(Obviously if it's plastic and produced from a mold (ie, not hand-carved), it's much less desirable / valuable.)

Yours looks older but it's hard to tell from these photos.

 

Heres a few

Here is a few more photos hope there better

 

Martin, it is difficult to see, but I think it could be molded plaster covered with a layer of real cinnabar. That was done quite a lot in the late 19th-early 20th century.
So probably an early fake, and not as valuable as handcarved cinnabar.
If it is indeed an early fake, there is an upside, because you have less toxic cinnabar to worry about.

 

Good catch (esp pic#10) where a spot of plaster seems completely visible.There's some small pinpoints & flecks elsewhere.
I'd think an antique fake beats a new one in most cases.

 

Absolutely.

 

It's an attractive piece. Perhaps depicting a teacher / scholar and student in a garden.

 

Ye are the specialists and i am all the wiser after the last week.thank you all very much

 

Martin, if you like cinnabar, It is good to know how genuine carved cinnabar items were made:

Cinnabar lacquer was applied in layers. Each layer had to dry before the next was applied.
When there was sufficient thickness of the lacquer, it was carved. The carved edges were sharp, just like carving clay.
But more importantly, the carving revealed the layering of the cinnabar. So when you have a side view of a carved detail, you can see lines, the lacquer layers.

 

Thanks Any Jewler.Good to know