I bought some antiquties, what can the SF collective tell me about them?

[culverwood]

Should that be antiques not antiquities which I always supposed to be much older.

"Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures."

 

[Lucky Strike]

Originally Posted by culverwood

Should that be antiques not antiquities which I always supposed to be much older. "Antiquities, nearly always used in the plural in this sense, is a term for objects from Antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures."
Yep, that's right.

 

[Lucky Strike]

Originally Posted by Toiletduck

LS is our forum specialist in antiquities

Ha! Thanks - maybe I should start a "Stump me with a question about antiques" thread.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

OK - you say you took the back off - it's unusual for an oil painting to have any backing - can you tell what media it is? (Watercolour, oil on canvas, oil on board, ink drawing?)



The Chinese one is probably intended as a pedestal, the other two are just..stools, I suppose.

I don't think either of them are very old, 100 yrs max, I'd venture to guess. It's difficult to say from photos.

I don't think any of the stools are over 60-70 yrs old but I'll defer to your superior knowledge of the antique market. Hard to say from photos. This stuff is very common in North Africa...

 

[Lucky Strike]

Originally Posted by Fuuma

I don't think any of the stools are over 60-70 yrs old but I'll defer to your superior knowledge of the antique market. Hard to say from photos.
Nah, we agree then, 100 yrs max, I think.

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

Nah, we agree then, 100 yrs max, I think.

You think the Chinese one is one of those "imports" for tourists or something? (not for local production). The Swiss watchmakers did the same for the Chinese market, making watches with patterned mechanisms as affluent Chinese of the time were mainly impressed by that aspect and wanted to show how intricate the inside of the watches were. It's pretty fun when you find one of those but repairs are a *****; you gotta ask a competent horologist to make a part from scratch to replace the broken one and it looks akward if it's the only non-patterned one.

 

[Lucky Strike]

The Chinese one may just be a pedestal for a nice vase; I see them used as bases for larger (sometimes much, much older) vases quite often, and the Chinese seem unable to present an object without it being placed on some carved wooden base of some sort or other.

But it has that wildly-carved made-for-export feel, yes. There are some clear Western influences in the shape, particularly the legs, which are really more Queen Anne than the ancient Chinese cabriole type.

The Chinese geared their production for export as early as the 18thC, google "export porcelain" and you'll see how the Chinese adapted to Western demands for Chinese-looking stuff adapted for Western practical use. The most famous example is the adding of a handle to teacups, of course.

Chinese furniture in richly carved rosewood were very popular in the decades immediately before and some time after 1900, it seems that no well-off Western visitor left China without a huge suite of richly carved rosewood or "rosewood" furniture. Western shapes/models, Chinese-style carvings. I'll try to dig up some examples.

 

[ms244]

The special collections department of the university where I got this from is going to be open Wednesday to Friday. I will try to get some info on these from them.

At the very least, I now have the beginning of an art collection.

Take that small timers

 

[Fuuma]

Originally Posted by ms244

The special collections department of the university where I got this from is going to be open Wednesday to Friday. I will try to get some info on these from them.

At the very least, I now have the beginning of an art collection.

Take that small timers

I'm sure the benches will do wonderfully well as house/apt deco. Nice catch.

 

[Mr T]

Nice haul. I also like university library surplus book sales. The value of ex-library books isn't great but you can find some great old books.


LS - any recommendations on where to research Japanese paintings? I bought two paintings there several years ago and can't find any information. They appear to be painted directly on the inside of the glass.

 

[LabelKing]

Originally Posted by Lucky Strike

The Chinese one may just be a pedestal for a nice vase; I see them used as bases for larger (sometimes much, much older) vases quite often, and the Chinese seem unable to present an object without it being placed on some carved wooden base of some sort or other. But it has that wildly-carved made-for-export feel, yes. There are some clear Western influences in the shape, particularly the legs, which are really more Queen Anne than the ancient Chinese cabriole type. The Chinese geared their production for export as early as the 18thC, google "export porcelain" and you'll see how the Chinese adapted to Western demands for Chinese-looking stuff adapted for Western practical use. The most famous example is the adding of a handle to teacups, of course. Chinese furniture in richly carved rosewood were very popular in the decades immediately before and some time after 1900, it seems that no well-off Western visitor left China without a huge suite of richly carved rosewood or "rosewood" furniture. Western shapes/models, Chinese-style carvings. I'll try to dig up some examples.
The posted example appears crudely carved despite its ornamental flourishes. The wood also appears to be imitation rosewood. Here's a good one--sold at $168,000: