The Porcelain Tower of Nanking, Chinese Ming Model, Antique Color Plate, 1911
€ 235
Original antique · The actual sheet photographed · Certificate of authenticity on request · Sold unframed · Worldwide shipping from € 15 (rates)
Date
1911
Mapmaker / artist
Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker
Publisher
Bernard Quaritch, 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London
Coloring
Printed color
Sheet size
31 × 24 cm (12.2 × 9.4 in)
Condition
Good
Reference
BG-14405-191
What the condition grades mean
Excellent
Bright and clean, with no faults worth mentioning.
Very good
Only light signs of age, such as faint toning.
Good
Normal signs of age for a sheet of this period: toning, some foxing, small marks or neat old repairs.
Fair
Clear faults such as staining, tears or repairs, priced to match.
Every fault we see is written in the condition note, and the whole sheet is shown uncropped in the photos.
Condition
Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners.
About this sheet
Plate 191 from Volume II of Gorer and Blacker's Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, an original 1911 color plate of a porcelain model of the famous tower at Nanking, faced with glazed faience slabs in three colors, the tower razed in 1854. Model of the famous porcelain tower at Nanking. Described as an example of the practice of facing buildings, inside and outside, with slabs or tiles of faience coated with colored glazes; the effect is given by the three colors employed. The model is very rare. The book gives it to the Ming period and records height 15 1/4 inches (38.5 cm); width 5 inches (12.5 cm). From the collection formed by Richard Bennett, Esq., D.L.
Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, by Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker, was published in London by Bernard Quaritch in 1911 in two volumes with two hundred and fifty four color plates, and this sheet is one of them, from Volume II. The plates are color collotypes, a photographic process that reproduces continuous tone without a visible dot screen, which is why the glazes keep their depth on paper.
Edgar Gorer was one of the most visible dealers in Chinese art of his generation. He traded as S. Gorer and Son at 170 New Bond Street with a branch at 500 Fifth Avenue in New York, dealt chiefly in Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong porcelain, and sold to Sir William Lever. He died on 7 May 1915 when the Lusitania was torpedoed, and his body was never recovered.
Collectors of Chinese ceramics, of early color printing and of Edwardian book illustration all look for these plates, and they work equally well in an interior scheme as in a collection.
This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction.
Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. Slight wear at the bottom left and bottom right corners.
This item is sold unframed. Any framed or interior images are shown for presentation and inspiration only, unless the listing explicitly states that the item is sold framed.
