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Antique china sale and auctions in the
Antique Web!
Old China
by Wayne Mattox
Years ago, I showed a glazed blue and white plate
to one of the old time dealers in our neighborhood, Ken Hammitt.
It was decorated with oriental junks sailing on a river, an
arched bridge, a pavilion type teahouse with a person in the
window, willow and pine trees, and rocks, islands, and hills in
the background. Ken held the dish with two fingers as if he was
holding a dead rat by the tail. "It's Canton," he said. "Cheap
oriental export porcelain. They used it as a ballast for ships
in the old days." Ken had a way of exaggerating things after he
had his afternoon martini. I knew he didn't care much for Canton
china, but I figured he made up the story about using it as a
ballast.
After the
Revolutionary War, America was eager
to broaden her culture and develop
new trading partners. An inexpensive
line of tableware produced in an
assembly-line like method as far
back as 1772 in Ching-te' Che'n
China, became widely available in
North America soon after the Empress
of China and ships like her began
raising sails in 1784. Canton, the
name is derived from the Chinese
port where it was exported, became
America's favorite china. It graced
tables at George and Martha
Washington's home in Mount Vernon,
Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
mansion, and most of our forebearers.
It can still readily found in
antique shops and auctions today. In
addition to elements already
mentioned, Canton china can be
identified by its three ring border;
a narrow white rim at the extreme
outer edge, surrounding a wider blue
band decorated with diamond and
asterisk looking designs,
encompassing a continuous scalloped
interior line filled with diagonal
dashes referred to as the rain and
cloud pattern.
Canton can be easily be
distinguished from it derivative,
transfer-decorated English Blue
Willowware. Canton's hand-painted
decoration has no people on the
bridge, no fencing, and usually, no
birds. It is a thick-walled pottery
compared to Willoware. Nanking, a
similar but superior grade of
Chinese export porcelain, has small
spears and posts in place of the
rain and cloud border pattern and
will often have a figure holding an
umbrella on the bridge that is not
found on early Cantonware.
Canton color varies from faded light
blue to greyish-blue to navy blue.
Surface texture varies as well.
Canton was often molded out of
unrefined clay, painted in haste,
and baked in the bottom of the kiln
where is was subject to damage by
ash, and uncontrolled temperatures.
It has been produced and sold from
the 18th to the 20th century. Late
pieces often have a straight line
border. Superior form glaze and
decoration, slight crazing to the
glaze, and base wear are generally
indicative of earlier pieces,
however, there is no scientific way
of dating Canton. Most Chinese
export porcelain made prior to 1891,
when new custom laws required the
marking of "China" or "Made in
China" is devoid of marks.
Canton can range in price from $20
for a butter plate to several
thousand dollars for rare forms in
good condition. At a March 7, 1995
auction in Amsterdam, Netherlands,
twenty-two Canton tureens sold for
an average of $7,000 each.
Thirty-two pierced Canton
latticework fruit baskets averaged
$8,000, and seventeen cups and
saucers averaged over $300 per set.
The most interesting fact concerning
the collection is where it was
discovered. It was salvaged from the
cargo of the Diana that sank without
a trace on March 5, 1817. 178 years
later, twenty tons of chinaware was
discovered in the lower holds of the
ship where it helped to serve as
seawater safe ballast!
Reprinted with permission
Copyright by Wayne Mattox ©
by
AntiqueTalk.com
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