Chinese Export Porcelain Charger, Blue on White Peony & Frogspawn, Kangxi 18th C

This is a beautiful large porcelain charger made in China for export to the West. The charger dates from the late KangXi era in the early 18th century.

The charger is lightly potted with a bluish matte glaze and has a beautiful underglaze blue hand painted pattern of peonies on a frogspawn ground. Peonies are symbolic for wealth and honour; frog spawn for wealth and abundance… so serving your food from this charger must bring good luck! There are some sprigs along the rims on the underside of the charger.

The charger is not marked but has three patch marks on the underside.

Condition report The charger is in excellent antique condition. Its only flaw is three hairlines coming off the rim, which do not distract from its beauty – they are clearly visible in the pictures. There are some specks baked into the glaze, see last picture. There is no other damage and no crazing or wear.

Antique porcelain is never perfect. Everything was handwork and kilns were fired on wood or coal, creating a lot of dust and other particles that could get baked into the porcelain by accident. Due to the shrinkage in the kiln, items can have small firing lines, which should not be seen as damage but as an imperfection of the time of production. I will reflect any damage, repairs, obvious stress marks, crazing or heavy wear in the item description but some minor scratches, nicks, stains and gilt disintegration can be normal for vintage items and need to be taken into account.

There is widespread confusion on the internet about the difference between chips and nicks, or hairlines and cracks. I will reflect any damage as truthfully as I can, i.e. a nick is a tiny bit of damage smaller than 1mm and a chip is something you can easily see with the eye; a glazing line is a break in the glazing only; hairline is extremely tight and/or superficial and not picked up by the finger; and a crack is obvious both to the eye and the finger.

Dimensions 35cm (13.75″) in diameter; 5cm (2″) high.

More Details

Dimensions: Height: 2 in (5.08 cm)Diameter: 13.75 in (34.93 cm)

Style: Chinese Export (Of the Period)

Materials and Techniques: Porcelain, Hand-Painted

Place of Origin: China

Period: Early 18th Century

Date of Manufacture: Early 18th Century

Condition: GoodWear consistent with age and use. In excellent condition; two hairlines off the rim, some small flakes off the centre of the charger, slight scrapes on the rim, otherwise no damage, crazing or wear.

Seller Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka