{"title":"Asian Antiques","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"17th-century-chinese-kangxi-blue-and-white-porcelain-plate-artemisia-leaf-mark","title":"17th century Kangxi blue and white plate, Artemisia mark","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBy the 1670's and 80's, Chinese potters at Jingdezhen were producing porcelain for a market that had grown considerably more demanding than it had been a century earlier — Kraak wares, developed under the Ming Wanli emperor for export via Portuguese and later Dutch traders, had already trained European buyers to expect fine white bodies divided into decorative panels, and Kangxi-period potters inherited and refined that formula rather than abandoning it. This plate carries that legacy directly: floral motifs set within cartouches, painted in a cobalt blue that's had three centuries to settle into the glaze, on a body thin enough to hold light at the rim.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Artemisia leaf mark on the base is one of a handful of symbolic marks Kangxi-period potters used in place of a reign mark, likely to avoid the awkwardness of an inferior piece bearing the emperor's actual name — a workaround more common than you might expect on porcelain of this period, and a useful dating clue in its own right. Dating to roughly 1670-1690, within the long Kangxi reign, the plate sits at a point when Chinese export porcelain was arguably at its technical peak, palace politics and trade routes aside.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFew firing pockmarks to glaze; wear to glaze and small nibbles all along the rim; repair along the edge of the plate.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035552665933,"sku":"3264","price":620.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/184-20240309_162049-Photoroom_07e28812-8615-4545-804a-45b201e2e87b.webp?v=1780945516"},{"product_id":"1890-s-indian-calcutta-silver-figural-bowl-with-embossed-animal-scenes","title":"1890's Calcutta silver basket with fish-form feet","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCalcutta silver earned its reputation in the late 19th century as one of the more exuberant strands of Anglo-Indian silverware, made largely for a British colonial market with a taste for pattern that would have looked overwrought on a London sideboard but read as exactly right shipped home from India. This basket leans into that fully: a fluted, petal-shaped rim worked with pierced openwork sits above a base embossed with a small chase scene — a dog, a cat and a rabbit caught mid-pursuit through dense shrubbery — the kind of narrative detail that rewards actually picking the thing up rather than glancing at it from across a room.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe three fish-form feet are a nice bit of structural wit, holding the whole piece aloft on tails and fins rather than anything so mundane as a plain pedestal, and fit within a wider tradition of animal and botanical motifs that Calcutta silversmiths returned to again and again, presumably because customers kept buying them. It has been XRF tested and confirmed as 925 sterling silver.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. The legs are a bit uneven in height, so the bowl skews to one side.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035554926925,"sku":"2985","price":130.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/287-20240125_084142-PhotoRoom_50948d4c-9ed9-4ed7-aea0-3d816595761b.webp?v=1780945545"},{"product_id":"19th-century-chinese-chenghua-style-famille-verte-crackle-glaze-jar-vase","title":"19th century Chinese Chenghua-style famille verte jar","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eFamille verte enamelling gets its name from the dominant green tones in its palette, developed during the Kangxi period as a way of building up a wider, more layered range of colour on porcelain than earlier techniques allowed — and on this baluster-shaped jar, it's put to properly theatrical use. The body is given over almost entirely to a battle scene, mounted warriors in traditional robes caught mid-charge, banners streaming, rendered in the green, red, yellow and black that define the palette at its most confident.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe crackle glaze covering the surface is a technique with its own long pedigree in Chinese ceramics, achieved by exploiting the different rates at which glaze and body contract on cooling, so that a fine network of cracks forms across the surface almost of its own accord — a controlled flaw, essentially, turned into a decorative feature centuries before anyone coined the phrase \"distressed finish.\" The piece takes its decorative cues from Chenghua-period style, a reign particularly associated with fine, delicate porcelain painting, though this jar itself dates to the 1870's rather than the 15th century — a homage rather than a direct descendant. The lid carries its own small drama, topped with a fierce mask motif that holds its own against the busier scene running around the body below.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eVery good antique condition. Minor wear to glazing; repairs to lid and neck rim.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035560857933,"sku":"3735","price":320.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/28-IMG_0341-Photoroom-Photoroom.webp?v=1780945596"},{"product_id":"19th-century-chinese-tea-dust-glaze-vase-with-long-neck-and-bulbous-belly","title":"19th century Chinese tea dust glaze vase with long neck and bulbous belly","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTea dust glaze is one of those Chinese ceramic effects that sounds like a happy accident and is, in fact, a controlled one — an iron-rich glaze cooled slowly enough that iron particles migrate and pool on the surface as it sets, producing a mottled, olive-brown speckling that's genuinely difficult to fake or rush. This bottle vase, with its tall neck rising from a globular body on a short foot, carries that glaze in full effect, the surface reading as yellowish-brown at a glance and resolving into a fine green-flecked texture the closer you look.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe technique itself has real pedigree, first appearing at kilns in Shaanxi and Henan during the Tang dynasty and continuing through Ming and provincial Qing production before being deliberately revived at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen during the Yongzheng period, where potters pushed it further as a porcelain answer to the colour and texture of aged bronze. It's a reminder that \"imitation\" in Chinese ceramics was rarely about cutting corners — copying bronze in clay took just as much skill as the original casting, arguably more patience.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035561120077,"sku":"3425","price":600.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/Photoroom_014_20240506_173248.webp?v=1780945597"},{"product_id":"19th-century-indian-brass-lota-water-pot-with-fluted-rope-border","title":"19th century Indian brass lota water pot with fluted rope border","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA lota is about as unglamorous an object as you'll find in Indian material culture — a simple water pot, used daily for washing, drinking, ritual offerings, pretty much anything requiring a vessel and a hand — which makes it a little surprising how much decorative attention some of them received. This one has a round, baluster-shaped body raised on a pedestal foot, with a fluted band running around its girdled centre carved to resemble twisted rope, the kind of detail that turns a strictly functional object into something worth looking at twice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBrass was the material of choice for lotas across much of India for practical as well as symbolic reasons — durable, antimicrobial in ways nobody had a word for yet, and considered auspicious in Hindu ritual contexts, where brass and copper vessels still turn up in temple offerings today. Dating to the second half of the 19th century, under British Raj rule in India, this example has the kind of quiet, well-used presence that suits a piece with genuine daily-life history behind it rather than one made purely for display.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Tarnishing appropriate to age; the rim of the foot is uneven.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035562266957,"sku":"3609","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/44-DSC_0225-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945610"},{"product_id":"19th-century-qing-dynasty-sang-de-boeuf-hu-form-vase-with-deer-head-handles","title":"19th century Qing sang de boeuf Hu vase, deer handles","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSang de boeuf glaze — literally \"ox blood\" — is one of those Chinese ceramic achievements that took centuries to perfect and about five minutes to lose again: the deep copper-red colour comes from firing in a reduction kiln under conditions so exacting that entire batches would come out muddy brown or patchy if the temperature or atmosphere drifted even slightly. This vase takes the form of a hu, an ancient wine vessel shape with a pear-shaped body swelling up into a narrower neck, giving it that distinctive S-curve profile — a form that traces back to bronze ritual vessels made well before the Shang dynasty and got reinterpreted in porcelain centuries later, by which point everyone had presumably stopped using them to actually hold wine.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe deer head handles are a nice period touch, deer being one of the more reliable good-luck symbols in Chinese decorative art, standing in for longevity and official rank depending on which text you consult — useful information if you're ever asked to explain your dinnerware at a party. Set against the depth of the glaze, they give the piece a bit more visual interest than a plain hu form would manage on its own, and make it a strong contender for anywhere in the house that could use one confident object doing the heavy lifting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Wear to gilt on handles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035563086157,"sku":"3421","price":800.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/Photoroom_009_20240506_170214.webp?v=1780945615"},{"product_id":"art-deco-colonial-silver-warner-brothers-delhi-pair-of-compotes-two-handle-bon-bon-fruit-baskets","title":"Art Deco Colonial silver compotes, Warner Brothers Delhi","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eWarner Brothers of Delhi worked within the broader tradition of British Raj silverware, producing pieces for a colonial market that wanted recognisably British forms executed with Indian craftsmanship and material. This pair of compotes takes a circular bowl form on pedestal feet, each with two openwork handles, but the pierced wavy geometric decoration running around the sides pushes the design firmly into Art Deco territory rather than the denser, more traditional patterning common on earlier Colonial Indian silver. It's a nice example of two design worlds meeting somewhere in the middle rather than one simply borrowing from the other.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eBoth pieces carry matching hallmarks, confirming they were made and finished together rather than assembled later as a matched pair from separate stock, which is worth knowing given how often pairs get split up or mismatched over a century of handling. Compotes like these were intended for serving fruit or sweets at the table, functional pieces that doubled as a genuine showpiece given the level of decorative work involved, the kind of thing you'd bring out specifically because you wanted people to notice it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eGreat antique condition. Tiny dings to the undersides of the bowls; the edges of the feet are not perfectly round.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035571999053,"sku":"2169","price":515.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2Fd2ff1d_2F4980327576_2Fil_fullxfull.4980327576_qr7v.webp?v=1780945668"},{"product_id":"antique-chinese-boxwood-root-carved-figurine-of-daoist-immortal-li-tai-guai","title":"Antique Chinese boxwood root carving, Li Tai Guai","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCarved from a dense knot of boxwood root, this seated figure likely represents Li Tai Guai, generally reckoned the oldest and most senior of the Eight Immortals in Daoist legend. He's an unusual choice of hero by most standards — traditionally depicted not as a serene sage but as a lame beggar, carrying the double gourd that has become his signature attribute. The gourd does a lot of narrative work: it wards off evil, symbolises longevity, and dispenses medicine to the poor and the sick, with a wisp of cloud rising from its mouth said to represent Li's own soul drifting free of his body.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBoxwood root was a favoured material for exactly this kind of fine figural carving, prized for a tight grain that holds crisp detail far better than softer woods, and for the irregular, knotted forms of the root itself, which carvers often worked with rather than against — letting a burl or twist in the wood suggest drapery or a hunched shoulder before a single tool touched it. Li's status as patron of the down-and-out gives the piece a bit of unexpected warmth for an immortal: the one member of the Eight who looks like he's had a harder life than the people asking for his help, which is rather the point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Hairline cracks to body and minor scratches appropriate to age and use.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035574554957,"sku":"3088","price":550.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/2-IMG_0796-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945695"},{"product_id":"antique-chinese-pair-of-immortals-deities-carved-in-buffalo-horn-holding-a-staff-and-a-lotus-flower","title":"Antique Chinese Immortals pair, buffalo horn carvings","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBuffalo horn carving occupies a curious middle ground in Chinese decorative arts — humbler than jade, more forgiving than ivory, and prized precisely because a skilled carver could coax translucency and fine detail out of a material most people associate with soup stock. This pair puts that skill to good use: a male sage grips a staff, his female counterpart holds a lotus in one raised hand, both figures likely drawn from the broader tradition of Immortals and deities that populate Chinese religious and folk art, characters believed to have earned eternal life through virtue, alchemy, or sheer stubbornness, depending which story you're told.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe lotus is doing quiet symbolic work here too — purity rising untouched from mud, a favourite shorthand in Buddhist and Daoist imagery alike, and a fitting attribute for a figure meant to represent something above the ordinary run of mortals. Displayed together, the two carvings have the presence of a matched set without tipping into matchy-matchy, the kind of pairing that rewards a closer look rather than announcing itself from across the room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. Chip to female deity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035574817101,"sku":"3090","price":175.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/1-IMG_0825-Photoroom.webp?v=1780945696"},{"product_id":"19th-century-chinese-qing-dynasty-soapstone-figurine-of-monkey-riding-a-water-buffalo","title":"Qing dynasty soapstone monkey riding water buffalo","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis figurine carves a monkey astride a kneeling water buffalo, and the detail goes well beyond the pairing itself — ribs, nostrils, and eyelids on the buffalo are all rendered with real observational care, while the monkey's expression comes across as genuinely impish rather than generically animal. That's the sort of characterisation that separates a competent carving from one worth stopping for.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe monkey-and-buffalo pairing carries its own layer of meaning in Chinese decorative arts, often read as a wordplay-driven wish for rank or promotion, though it works just as well purely as a piece of skilled figural carving without needing the symbolism spelled out. Dating to the late Qing dynasty, the quality of the carving throughout reflects real skill and patience on the part of the carver.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Losses to buffalo's knees at the front and part of its tail.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035574849869,"sku":"1628","price":60.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2Fe5dc62_2F3978145515_2Fil_fullxfull.3978145515_5vto_b507dab8-47c2-45dd-bfd0-6dd48f885e1b.webp?v=1780945697"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-red-yellow-soapstone-figurine-of-small-monkey-on-rocks","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone monkey figurine, rocky outcrop","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis small standalone figurine depicts a monkey caught mid-climb down a rocky outcrop, carved from soapstone in a warm reddish yellow that suits the subject well. The pose does most of the work here: weight shifted, limbs engaged, the kind of momentary balance that's harder to carve convincingly than a seated or standing figure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmall soapstone animal carvings like this were made purely to be handled and admired, with no practical desk function beyond that — just a well-observed subject rendered at a scale that fits comfortably in the hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Small nicks commensurate with age; small chips to base in one spot.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035575112013,"sku":"1636","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2F21443e_2F3930769382_2Fil_fullxfull.3930769382_gyjr.jpg?v=1780945700"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-brush-washer-pot-figurine-flowering-prunus-tree","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush washer, prunus tree","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis brush washer is carved with a flowering prunus tree set against a mountain backdrop, worked in soapstone running red through black, the darker stone doing the work of mountain and shadow while the paler tones carry the blossoms. Prunus in bloom is a well-worn subject in Chinese art generally, valued for flowering while everything else is still bare, and it translates well into carved relief where the contrast between bare branch and blossom can be picked out in the stone itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt's a quieter, more contemplative piece, working as a small landscape rather than a populated scene — the kind of carving that rewards a slower look rather than announcing itself all at once.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Small nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035575144781,"sku":"1633","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2Fe6204e_2F3930761498_2Fil_fullxfull.3930761498_jasy_be758905-6157-49a2-855c-ced6fccf6114.jpg?v=1780945700"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-double-brush-washer-pot-with-birds-figurine","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone double brush washer, bird","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis double brush washer is carved from a soft pink-toned soapstone, decorated with a single bird rendered in enough detail — feathers, posture, the set of the head — that it holds the piece on its own without needing a supporting cast of other animals. Both reservoirs are incised with a floral pattern, keeping the decorative language consistent between the figural carving and the more restrained work around the basins themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's a confidence in letting one well-executed subject carry a piece like this, rather than filling every available surface — the bird gets the attention it's due, and the floral incising does its job quietly in the background rather than competing for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Some losses to the edge of base along the back; minor nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035575570765,"sku":"1626","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2F066555_2F3930677032_2Fil_fullxfull.3930677032_h5y0.jpg?v=1780945702"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-brush-washer-and-brush-pot-with-monkeys-birds-fish-figurine","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush washer \u0026 pot, fish design","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis piece combines a brush washer and brush pot in a single carved form, a practical pairing that saved desk space while still leaving plenty of surface for decoration. A monkey feeds a bird on one side, another bird plucks at fruit nearby, and the pink and grey soapstone gives the carver a natural way to separate figure from ground without relying on incised outlines alone. The pot section carries an ornate fish motif worked into the stone, while the washer bears incised Chinese characters, adding a documentary element that pure figural carving usually doesn't.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCombined forms like this ask a carver to balance two different functions within one composition, and the range of motifs here — animals, fish, script — suggests someone working confidently across several decorative registers rather than repeating a single formula.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Chip to pot rim; minor nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035575636301,"sku":"1632","price":55.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2Fc4160a_2F3930759876_2Fil_fullxfull.3930759876_9w7t_6f3b130b-570d-49ce-93bb-70418c3c1ac9.webp?v=1780945703"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-brush-washer-pot-with-dog-and-monkey-figurines","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush washer, dog \u0026 monkey","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis brush washer takes a more playful approach than most — a monkey sits eating fruit while a dog appears mid-attempt to climb into the pot itself, blurring the line between decoration and the object's actual function in a way that most carved brush washers don't bother with. The stone runs pale green through black, giving the carver two distinct tones to separate the figures from their setting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDogs are a less common subject in Chinese soapstone carving than monkeys, birds, or the usual scholarly motifs, which makes the pairing here a bit of a departure from what turns up most often on pieces like this. It's a small scene with real character, carved by someone who clearly wasn't taking the subject too seriously.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Some small nicks commensurate with age; internal hairline crack to base.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035576062285,"sku":"1627","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/Chinese-Republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-brush-full-1A-720x2_10-PhotoRoom_6873e98c-8d8f-46d3-a923-8aefc434e821.webp?v=1780945704"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-brush-washer-pot-with-monkeys-and-bird-figurine","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush washer, frolicking monkeys","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo monkeys frolic across the front of this brush washer, caught in genuine motion rather than posed symmetry, while a bird with wings fully spread completes the scene above them — a livelier composition than the usual single-figure carving. The stone itself runs a warm reddish brown throughout, and the bowl carries its own incised floral border, so even the functional interior doesn't go undecorated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBrush washers held the water a calligrapher used to clean ink from the brush between strokes, a humble job for an object this carefully worked. The choice to fill the surface with frolicking animals rather than a more restrained motif suggests this was made for someone who wanted a bit of life on the desk alongside the actual business of writing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Crack that extends from the back to the base; chip along the rim on reverse, on the inner rim of the bowl and to one of the monkey's faces; minor nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035576095053,"sku":"1621","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2F2c2b47_2F3930591010_2Fil_fullxfull.3930591010_91ni_1da935cf-5651-4c05-b18d-ff6e4df44dd8.webp?v=1780945705"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-double-brush-pot-figurine-with-monkeys-and-birds","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush pot, monkeys \u0026 birds","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis double brush pot turns its decoration floral rather than figural, a large flowering plant carved across the front with enough presence to read almost as sculpture rather than surface ornament. The soapstone runs mottled yellow through black, and even the two reservoirs aren't left plain — each incised with its own floral detail, so the decoration carries through to the last inch of the piece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoapstone's give under the carver's tool made this level of botanical detail possible without the material fighting back, and pieces like this sat on a scholar's desk doing double duty as both a working object and something worth simply looking at between uses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Small chips along the edge of the base on reverse; minor nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035576127821,"sku":"1638","price":65.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/Chinese-Republic-soapstone-calligraphy-figural-double-full-1A-720x2_10-PhotoRoom.jpg?v=1780945708"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-yellow-black-soapstone-calligraphy-double-brush-pot-figurine-with-flowers","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone brush pot, carved flowers","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis double brush pot is carved from the same mottled yellow and black soapstone favoured across Republic-era scholar's objects, though here the decoration turns floral rather than figural — a large flowering plant worked across the front, substantial enough to read almost as sculpture rather than surface ornament. The two reservoirs themselves aren't left plain either, incised with their own floral detail so that even the functional parts of the piece carry decoration through to the last inch.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eSoapstone's give under the carver's tool made this level of botanical detail possible without the material fighting back, and pieces like this sat on a scholar's desk doing double duty as both a working object and something worth simply looking at between uses.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eVery good antique condition. Small chips along the edge of the base on reverse; minor nicks commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035576160589,"sku":"1639","price":90.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/Chinese-Republic-yellow-black-soapstone-calligraphy-full-1A-720x2_10-PhotoRoom.jpg?v=1780945708"},{"product_id":"antique-indian-bronze-dhokra-owl-box-container-with-a-hinged-lid","title":"Antique Indian Dhokra bronze owl box, hinged lid","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis bronze owl container was cast using the Dhokra technique — lost-wax casting that's been practised across India for over 4,000 years and hasn't much needed updating since. The owl's head lifts as a hinged lid, sitting above a body worked with the kind of dense, deliberate decoration Dhokra pieces are known for, supported on two feet and a tail that give the whole thing a genuinely three-dimensional, sculptural presence rather than reading as a flat container with a face added on. It may well have started life as an inkwell, though it works just as easily today as a small box for anything that needs somewhere characterful to live.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDhokra work carries real historical weight — the technique connects, in an unbroken line, back to pieces like the dancing girl of Mohenjo-daro, one of the earliest known lost-wax castings anywhere. Owls turn up regularly among the animal forms Dhokra artisans favoured, alongside horses, elephants, and peacocks, prized for the same primitive, confident simplicity that makes this piece worth having as much for the technique behind it as for the owl itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGreat antique condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035579339085,"sku":"2762","price":330.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/2762-Photoroom_281_29_c95d84ef-9754-443d-989b-53e3423dac48.webp?v=1780945736"},{"product_id":"antique-indian-colonial-silver-cooke-kelvey-large-baluster-ashtray-with-two-slots","title":"British Raj silver ashtray, baluster form, Kolkata","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCooke \u0026amp; Kelvey started out in 1858 as clockmakers in Kolkata, founded by Robert Thomas Cooke and Charles Kelvey, before expanding into silversmithing and jewellery over the following decades, becoming one of the more established firms working in British India through the later Colonial period. This ashtray dates from the early 20th century, built on a substantial baluster body with two cigarette slots set into either side, a practical bit of design for anyone who wanted somewhere specific to rest a cigarette without ash scattering across the tray.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt's a genuinely large and heavy piece rather than a modest side-table accessory, which suits a firm that clearly put real weight and presence into even a fairly everyday object like an ashtray. Cooke \u0026amp; Kelvey pieces are a useful marker of the wider silversmithing trade that developed in Colonial India, catering to a British and Anglo-Indian clientele who wanted recognisably formal silverware made locally rather than shipped out from Britain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood overall antique condition. Two dents and several smaller dings and depressions. The corner of one cigarette groove is turned in.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035579568461,"sku":"2211","price":260.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/s-l1600_281_29.jpg?v=1780945737"},{"product_id":"qing-dynasty-red-soapstone-figural-candlestick-with-deer-bird-and-prunus-tree","title":"Qing red soapstone candlestick, deer and prunus tree","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoapstone carving relies on the material's own softness for its detail — genuinely easy to work compared to jade or hardstone, which let carvers push into finer, more undercut detail without the tool constantly fighting the material. This candlestick puts that ease to good use: a deer stands on a rocky outcrop, reaching up to pluck at prunus blossoms, its body incised with swirling patterns and floral motifs rather than left plain, with a small bird perched at its feet completing the scene.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDeer and prunus together carry familiar symbolic weight in Chinese decorative art — deer generally standing for longevity, prunus blossom for renewal and resilience, since it flowers before the last of the winter cold has properly gone. The piece sits on its original black wood stand, a detail worth noting since bases like this are often lost or swapped out over a century of handling, and dates to the late Qing dynasty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Small chips along the upper rim; small losses where the tail is meant to join the tree; crack near the hind legs of the deer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035580191053,"sku":"1642","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_253A_252F_252Fi.etsystatic.com_252F29579960_252Fr_252Fil_252F338ea5_252F3978241749_252Fil_fullxfull.3978241749_ovot.jpg?v=1785504800"},{"product_id":"chinese-bronze-tall-statue-of-guanyin-resting-on-frog-on-lotus-flower","title":"Chinese bronze Guanyin statue, frog and lotus base","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis cast bronze statue shows Guanyin standing atop a large frog, itself resting on a lotus flower — a layered composition that gives the figure real visual height and a base worth studying on its own before you even get to Guanyin herself. The casting is detailed throughout, catching the fall of drapery and the texture of the lotus petals with the kind of close attention that separates genuinely well-made bronze figures from the merely decorative.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGuanyin appears across East Asian traditions under several names — Guan Yin, Kwan Yin, Kwannon among them — always referring to the same figure, known widely as the Goddess of Mercy or the Bodhisattva of Compassion. She's one of the most enduringly popular subjects in Chinese devotional and decorative bronze work, and the frog-and-lotus base here gives this particular casting a bit more narrative interest than the standing or seated forms more commonly seen.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGreat condition\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035595100493,"sku":"2768","price":420.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/2768-Photoroom_281_29.jpg?v=1780945918"},{"product_id":"chinese-export-porcelain-lidded-floor-vase-cobalt-blue-and-24kt-gold","title":"Chinese export cobalt blue lidded floor vase, 24kt gold","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis lidded floor vase is glazed a deep cobalt blue and painted over almost entirely in 24kt gold, scrolling foliage worked across the surface in a manner clearly borrowed from French salon taste rather than any strictly Chinese decorative tradition — export porcelain of this kind was often made with a specific Western market and its aesthetic expectations firmly in mind. The scale alone gives it presence, standing well past thirty centimetres to the lid, this is a piece built to anchor a room rather than sit as an accent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCobalt blue grounds finished in gilt have a long history in Chinese export ware, prized for the contrast between the saturated colour and the warmth of the gold, and mid-century workshops continued producing pieces in this register for buyers who wanted something with real visual weight for a hall, a mantel, or either side of a doorway.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good vintage condition. Some wear to gilding and surface scuffing appropriate to age and use.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035595362637,"sku":"3252","price":420.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/19-20240308_205448-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945921"},{"product_id":"chinese-famille-rose-porcelain-tianqiuping-bottle-vase-with-warrior-figures","title":"Chinese Republic famille rose Tianqiuping vase, warriors","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis large tianqiuping vase takes its name from its planet-like form — a broad mouth, straight neck, and full round body sitting on a flat, footless base that's slightly countersunk rather than raised. Two opposing cartouches carry warriors on horseback in polychrome famille rose enamel, figures caught mid-motion rather than posed, while the rest of the body is given over to white lotus flowers scrolling against a green ground, a quieter backdrop that gives the warrior scenes somewhere to stand out from.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFamille rose enamelling, with its characteristic opaque pink derived from colloidal gold, remained a mainstay of Chinese decorative porcelain through the Republic period, and this piece shows the technique at a genuinely substantial scale, built to command a room rather than sit quietly on a shelf.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent vintage condition. Some light surface scuffing to enamel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035595395405,"sku":"3247","price":165.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/37-20240308_211306-Photoroom_77d3f6dd-40eb-4b64-b548-39d9c6676864.webp?v=1780945920"},{"product_id":"chinese-guangxu-period-kangxi-revival-blue-and-white-dragon-bottle-porcelain-vase","title":"Guangxu blue and white dragon bottle vase, Kangxi style","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis bottle vase pairs a globular body with a tall, slender neck, painted in underglaze blue with two five-clawed dragons chasing a flaming pearl through clouds and flame — the kind of scene that carried real imperial weight when it first appeared during the Kangxi reign (1654–1722), and one Qing dynasty kilns returned to often enough that Kangxi-style revival became its own recognised category. This example dates to the Guangxu period (1875–1908), made roughly two centuries after the style it draws from, part of a broader nineteenth-century interest in reviving the aesthetic confidence of earlier imperial porcelain.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe dragons themselves do most of the work here, rendered with genuine movement rather than static symmetry, swirling around the body in pursuit of the pearl with the kind of energy that separates a good Kangxi-revival piece from a merely competent one. The underglaze blue holds its vibrancy well, and the craftsmanship throughout reflects the quality Guangxu-period workshops were capable of when working from a strong earlier model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. Small marks on neck interior.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035595690317,"sku":"3733","price":720.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/1-IMG_0314-Photoroom-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945922"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-porcelain-smiling-buddha-figurine","title":"Chinese Republic porcelain smiling Buddha figurine","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis porcelain Buddha sits with the wide, unmistakable smile that gives the figure its common name, prayer beads held loosely in hand. The robes are painted in famille rose enamels, pink joined by pale teals and yellows across a surface busy with hand-painted flowers, medallions, and repeating motifs — enough decorative detail to hold attention on its own, even before you get to the expression.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSmiling Buddha figures occupy a slightly different register from the meditating forms more familiar in Buddhist art, associated instead with good fortune, abundance, and a kind of contentment that translates easily regardless of who's looking at it on a shelf. The famille rose palette places this firmly within a decorative tradition that Chinese porcelain workshops carried well into the twentieth century, refined by then into something closer to a specialty than an innovation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035596476749,"sku":"3167","price":80.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/59-IMG_1658-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945927"},{"product_id":"chinese-republic-yellow-black-soapstone-calligraphy-double-brush-pot-with-monkey-and-bird","title":"Chinese Republic soapstone double brush pot, monkey and bird","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis double brush pot is carved from soapstone mottled through yellow and black, the two colours worked into the design rather than fought against — the darker passages picked out for shadow and fur, the paler stone left for whatever needed to catch the light. The scene is a small piece of narrative rather than pure ornament: a monkey holds a piece of fruit while a bird pecks at it, the kind of animal pairing that turns up across Chinese decorative arts as much for its charm as for any deeper symbolism.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSoapstone's softness made it a favourite material for exactly this sort of detailed figural carving, easy enough to work finely but still durable enough to survive a century of handling. Brush pots themselves sat on most scholars' desks as a matter of course, though a double form carved this elaborately was clearly made to be looked at as much as used.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Sideways chip to the reverse; some minor nicks and chips commensurate with age; one pot has small chips to rim; surface crack to body and small hole inside.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035596607821,"sku":"1641","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2F12464d_2F3978239613_2Fil_fullxfull.3978239613_spj6.webp?v=1780945930"},{"product_id":"early-18th-century-yongzheng-chinese-blue-and-white-porcelain-plate-of-scholars-and-boy","title":"Early 18th century Yongzheng porcelain plate, scholars","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis plate dates to the Yongzheng period, made from porcelain thin and fine enough that the blue and white decoration seems almost to float on the surface rather than sit under it. The scene shows scholars and a boy set within a landscape, a subject that turns up often on porcelain of this quality — scholarly leisure being exactly the kind of theme a Yongzheng-era buyer would have wanted looking back at them from the table. A geometric border runs around the rim, disciplined enough to frame the scene without competing with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYongzheng porcelain is generally held in high regard among collectors of Qing dynasty wares, the emperor's own exacting standards having pushed imperial and provincial kilns alike toward genuinely refined output during a relatively short reign. A plate this thin surviving three centuries intact says something about how it's been looked after along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Long hairline crack that is visible on both sides; several chips to rim; mottled grey discolouration.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035598278989,"sku":"3255","price":180.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/59-20240308_215540-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780945942"},{"product_id":"edo-period-parade-of-the-emperor-s-troops-woodblock-print-triptych-by-utagawa-yoshifuji","title":"Edo period Yoshifuji woodblock triptych, Emperor's Troops","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA triptych woodblock print earns its keep by making you walk the room to see the whole thing, and this one — ink and colour on paper, three sheets wide — was built for exactly that kind of unfolding drama. It depicts a parade of the Emperor's troops, made in 1867, right at the tail end of the Edo period, when Japan was mere months from the political upheaval that would usher in the Meiji era.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe artist, Utagawa Yoshifuji (歌川芳藤, born Nishimura Tōtarō, 1828-1889), trained under Utagawa Kuniyoshi within the prolific Utagawa school, and spent much of his career better known for something rather less martial: omocha-e, playful woodblock prints made for children. A parade piece like this one shows a different register entirely — formal, processional, clearly aimed at an adult audience keeping half an eye on a country about to change shape underneath them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePrints from this exact hinge point in Japanese history carry a particular weight — made just as the old military order was giving way to the new, they're as much a document of a vanishing world as they are decorative objects. For a collector of Japanese works on paper, that timing is most of the appeal.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Some very small holes and tearing appropriate to age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035599163725,"sku":"3198","price":780.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/MixCollage-09-Apr-2024-05-44-PM-5581-Photoroom_281_29_ce760c36-4d3c-4506-bc6f-8064af56e7a9.webp?v=1780945951"},{"product_id":"guangxu-chinese-famille-jaune-melon-ginger-jars-painted-with-lotus-flowers-and-butterflies-qianlong-red-mark","title":"Guangxu famille jaune melon ginger jars, lotus and butterflies","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eReign marks on Chinese export porcelain rarely mean what they say, and this pair is a fair example of the type — a red seal on the base reads Da Qing Qianlong Nian Zhi, but the calligraphy gives it away almost immediately, the strokes a touch cramped and hurried rather than carrying the confident spacing of the genuine 18th-century mark it's borrowing from. Qianlong references stayed in constant circulation for well over a century after his reign ended, used less as a date and more as a nod to the high point of imperial porcelain, and that's exactly the game being played here. These jars are Guangxu period, 1875 to 1908, made for the export trade rather than the palace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eWhat they lack in imperial pedigree they make up for in sheer enthusiasm. Globular melon-form bodies rise to stalk-finial lids, the yellow ground given over almost entirely to hand-painted polychrome — pink, blue and green enamels built into a dense, slightly exuberant tangle of foliage, lotus blooms and butterflies, framed top and bottom with tight geometric borders. Famille jaune is the less common cousin of the more familiar famille rose and famille verte palettes, and yellow-ground wares in particular saw a real resurgence in the Guangxu period as workshops looked back to earlier imperial aesthetics for inspiration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eAs a pair, they don't need the mark to justify a spot on a mantel or in a cabinet — the painting does that on its own.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eGreat antique condition. Tiny chip to the rim of one lid.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035636945229,"sku":"1940","price":415.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/63-20220917_231005-PhotoRoom_43564ff0-1afb-4509-a64e-0fe0993248fe.webp?v=1780946114"},{"product_id":"indian-burmese-colonial-silver-belt-buckle-with-deities-snakes-and-foliage","title":"Colonial Indian silver belt buckle, deities and cobras","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelt buckles doing double duty as guardians wasn't unusual in colonial-era India and Burma — plenty of them, this one included, carried deities into rather more mundane territory than temple carving usually allows. Cast and chased from a thick coin-silver body, it centres a four-armed female figure, quite possibly Lakshmi, goddess of fortune and a sensible choice for something meant to sit at the waist, set within openwork foliate scrollwork.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe border pulls its weight too, formed as two cobras coiling nose to tail around the buckle's edge — snake imagery being about as reliable a marker of protective intent as jewellery gets on the subcontinent. Whether the piece was made in India or Burma is one of those questions collectors get to keep debating over dinner; the workmanship and iconography sit comfortably in either camp. It's dated to the 1880's, and XRF testing confirms 900 standard silver, so at least the metal content isn't up for argument.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorn on a belt or simply set on a shelf, it brings genuine narrative weight to a collection, particularly one built mostly around quieter Western pieces in need of some contrast.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMultiple lead repairs to reverse; small dings to silver along the hook part; some small losses to lotus flowers the woman is holding; small splits.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035659850061,"sku":"2580","price":175.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/33-20230930_051707-PhotoRoomb_08e76e2e-b89d-42bb-98d4-3cca3912c6f7.webp?v=1780946129"},{"product_id":"indian-kutch-sterling-silver-tri-foot-round-sugar-bowl-embossed-flowers-and-foliage","title":"Indian Kutch silver sugar bowl, three feet","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKutch silverwork takes its name from the Kutch region of Gujarat, where local silversmiths developed a densely embossed decorative style that became one of the most recognisable regional traditions within Colonial Indian silver. This bowl carries that style across its entire surface, scrolling foliage and flowers worked in relief with no plain ground left untouched, a technique that takes considerable patience given how much of the surface has to be raised by hand from the reverse before any finishing detail is added.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe baluster body stands on three feet rather than a single pedestal, and a fluted rim finishes the top edge, adding one more layer of texture to a piece that's already dense with pattern. Kutch silver reached a real peak of popularity through the Colonial period, both with Indian buyers and British ones stationed in India who wanted a genuinely local decorative style rather than an imported one.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGreat condition. Inscription to base.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035660112205,"sku":"2273","price":500.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/s-l1600_285_29_2450747b-18d2-4a63-8df5-26861025f6d2.webp?v=1780946131"},{"product_id":"japanese-bronze-group-sculpture-of-a-frog-and-baby-frog-on-its-back","title":"Japanese bronze frog group, baby frog on back","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis small bronze group shows one frog carrying another, smaller frog on its back, cast with enough attention to the texture of the skin and the set of the eyes that it reads as observation rather than stylisation — someone who'd clearly spent time actually looking at frogs before picking up the tools. Bronze animal groups like this sat within a long-running Japanese tradition of small sculptural okimono, decorative pieces made purely to be looked at and handled rather than put to any practical use.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's a quiet warmth to the subject itself, parent and offspring rendered without sentimentality but not without affection either, which is a harder balance to strike than it sounds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGreat condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035660669261,"sku":"2766","price":190.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/2766-Photoroom_0252cf4c-9fdd-41b2-80c8-caa0130167e0.webp?v=1780946138"},{"product_id":"japanese-meiji-era-arita-blue-and-white-plate-with-mountains-and-trees","title":"Meiji Arita blue and white charger, mountain landscape","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis Arita charger is painted in blue and white with a landscape scene — a mountain rising in the background, a traditional Japanese building set among trees and hills in the foreground — bordered by a Greek key pattern running around the rim. The Greek key is a slightly unexpected touch on an otherwise classically Japanese landscape design, one of the small ways export porcelain of this period sometimes borrowed decorative conventions more familiar to Western buyers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\" class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eBlue and white Arita ware built its export reputation well before the Meiji period, but production expanded considerably once Japan opened more fully to Western trade, and landscape scenes like this one were a natural fit for the format — enough detail to reward a closer look, simple enough in palette to read clearly from across a room.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eGood antique condition. Firing pockmarks to glaze; numerous crazing lines; overflow of glazing on the underside in one spot; spur marks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035660996941,"sku":"3259","price":120.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/115-20240309_135558-Photoroom_3936e01f-28f6-483d-b893-871fa1bdc65f.webp?v=1780946141"},{"product_id":"japanese-meiji-era-yamatoku-kiln-pottery-imari-plate","title":"Taisho era Yamatoku kiln Imari charger, floral panels","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Imari charger centres a floral panel surrounded by outer panels painted with flowers and fruit in red, blue, green, yellow, and gold — a fuller palette than the red-and-blue combination more commonly associated with Imari ware, and one that takes real confidence to keep from looking cluttered. It bears the mark of the Yamatoku kiln in Saga Prefecture, a kiln that began production at the start of the Meiji period and continues operating today, with this particular mark dating to the 1920s to '30s per a Hizen marks reference.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYamatoku's continuous operation across more than a century makes mark-dating especially useful for pieces like this one, since the kiln's output spans several periods rather than a single fixed window the way some shorter-lived workshops do.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. Some wear to paint and gilt.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035661455693,"sku":"2900","price":135.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/3-IMG_9066-PhotoRoom_73faabb2-7eff-4d96-b9df-c5cc0251c963.webp?v=1780946146"},{"product_id":"japanese-meiji-porcelain-arita-imari-charger-plate-painted-with-flowers","title":"Meiji Arita Imari porcelain charger, floral motif","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis Arita Imari charger carries the deep red body most associated with the style, set off by cobalt blue detailing and a floral motif centred on the plate — a combination that made Imari ware instantly recognisable to Western buyers once it began arriving in quantity during the Meiji period. Red, blue, and gilt together were something of a signature palette for Arita's export kilns, chosen partly because the colours held up well and read as distinctly \"Japanese\" to audiences abroad who couldn't always tell one kiln from another.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eChargers like this one were made in large, flat forms specifically because they showed the decoration off to best advantage, whether hung on a wall or used as a serving piece at the table — a plate that was always doing double duty as decoration first and tableware second.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Hairline crack; some firing pockmarks to glaze; chip to edge; some light scuffing to enamel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035661488461,"sku":"3253","price":135.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/57-20240308_215130-Photoroom_106622ef-2447-4dbe-bdce-4103a6229325.webp?v=1780946149"},{"product_id":"chinese-guangxu-yellow-ground-yangcai-floral-yuhuchunping-porcelain-vase-in-qianlong-style","title":"Guangxu yellow ground Yuhuchunping vase, Qianlong style","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis pear-shaped Yuhuchunping vase — the classic form with its slender waisted neck, flared mouth, and short foot — is enamelled in famille rose colours against a yellow ground, with sgraffito work incised through the enamel to add texture beneath the painted florals. The decoration draws on a wide vocabulary of flowers: lotus, peach blossom, rose, morning glory, pomegranate, and a good half-dozen others besides, all scrolling across the body on tendrils worked into the yellow background. A blue floral band runs around the shoulder, a lotus petal border finishes the foot, and the neck carries the same yellow-ground floral scheme up to a red foliate border and gilt rim.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe base bears an iron-red four-character Qianlong seal mark, a convention common on later Chinese porcelain paying tribute to an earlier reign's aesthetic rather than claiming to be from it — this piece dates to the Guangxu period, and is understood as a faithful reproduction of an early eighteenth-century imperial original, one that sold at Christie's for £338,500. That's a considerable ancestor to live up to, and the vase does it justice: the density of pattern and the confidence of the yellow ground are exactly what made the original worth that much in the first place.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. Small dark mark.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035662668109,"sku":"3734","price":1750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/13-IMG_0326-Photoroom-Photoroom.jpg?v=1780946156"},{"product_id":"meiji-era-fukagawa-koransha-seiji-kaisha-octagonal-blue-and-white-porcelain-plate","title":"Meiji Seiji Kaisha blue and white octagonal plate","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis octagonal plate is decorated in blue and white with a floral design set against geometric shapes, a pairing that turns up often in Japanese export porcelain of the period, where formal pattern work and looser floral painting sat comfortably side by side on the same piece. It's marked for Seiji Kaisha, one of the trading companies that handled export porcelain out of Arita during the Meiji period, often working with kilns such as Koransha — founded by the Fukagawa family — to bring Japanese porcelain to Western markets under a single export mark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe octagonal shape itself was a deliberate departure from the round plates more familiar to Western tables, giving Japanese exporters a way to signal something distinctly foreign and desirable to buyers abroad without straying from the blue and white palette that had already proven popular.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Some scuffing to the surface of the glaze; scuffing along the edge of the rim; 3 small chips to the underside of the rim.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035669516621,"sku":"3275","price":85.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/221-20240309_173520-Photoroom_8548a728-451b-40a9-ac46-21abbdf7686e.webp?v=1780946214"},{"product_id":"meiji-japanese-kutani-porcelain-sitting-buddha-figurine-enamel-moriage-by-dai-nippon-tsukuru","title":"Meiji Kutani porcelain Buddha figurine, moriage ename","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis small Kutani porcelain figurine depicts a seated, meditating Buddha, decorated in raised moriage enamelling across red, blue, brown, and green in a floral pattern that builds up in relief rather than sitting flat against the surface. Partial gilding picks out further detail, and the whole thing rests on an expression carved with more restraint than the decoration around it — calm where the enamelling is busy, which is presumably the point.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eKutani ware has been produced in the Kaga region of Japan since the seventeenth century, though the style seen here — dense, colourful enamel work aimed squarely at Western export tastes — belongs to the Meiji period expansion of the industry, when Kutani workshops scaled up production for buyers abroad who couldn't get enough of it. The base carries a painted mark reading \"Dai Nippon Tsukuru,\" made in Japan by Tsukuru, one of the export marks used during this period to signal origin to overseas buyers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eGreat antique condition. Some wear to gilt and red enamel commensurate with age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035670204749,"sku":"1929","price":125.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_253A_252F_252Fi.etsystatic.com_252F29579960_252Fr_252Fil_252Fe9ce35_252F4287132710_252Fil_fullxfull.4287132710_sqnr_0f6b787e-00e6-457f-bf60-9a3b5d7a2b07.webp?v=1780946217"},{"product_id":"meiji-period-ishiguro-koko-sumidagawa-flowing-glaze-vase-with-applied-figure-of-a-boy","title":"Ishiguro Koko Sumida Gawa vase, applied boy figure","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"auto\"\u003eThis Sumida Gawa vase is asymmetrical by design, its form built up with flowing glaze that pools and runs rather than sitting evenly across the surface, and to the front an applied figure of a small boy climbs the body of the piece — moulded, carved, and incised all at once, which is fairly typical of the style's layered approach to decoration. It's marked for Ishiguro Koko in bone script, one of the recognised names working in this tradition during the Meiji period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"auto\"\u003eSumida Gawa ware developed in Japan largely for export to Western markets, where its thick, dripping glazes and sculptural figures — often children, animals, or genre scenes worked directly into the clay — struck buyers as distinctly different from the more restrained porcelain they were used to seeing from Japan. The style leaned into imperfection and movement rather than symmetry, which is exactly what makes a piece like this interesting to look at from more than one angle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eGood antique condition. Crack to the left forearm; left hand missing; repair to right ear.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035670434125,"sku":"2603","price":200.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2Fce909e_2F5433390415_2Fil_fullxfull.5433390415_9r88_6f3eff7b-f5ee-4431-ae0f-dfece6c7ac5e.webp?v=1780946217"},{"product_id":"meiji-period-japanese-bone-signed-okimono-netsuke-two-toads-and-snake-on-pumpkin","title":"Meiji bone okimono\/netsuke, toads and snake","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eNetsuke and okimono carvers had a genuine fondness for small dramas caught mid-action, and this one delivers exactly that: two toads scrambling over a pumpkin while a snake coils through the vegetable itself, its head poking out from inside as if it's just surfaced to check on its prey. Whether the toads are actually fleeing or simply going about their business is left ambiguous, which is part of the charm — the carver's given you the scene, not the ending.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe form is compact and rounded, built to sit comfortably in the hand or on a shelf, with the whole composition wrapping around the pumpkin's curve rather than sitting flat against one side of it. It's signed with a two-character mark to the base.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis piece is bone, not ivory, and can be sold and shipped without restriction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eExcellent condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035670466893,"sku":"3024","price":230.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/364-20240125_091845-Photoroom_ffdb4af0-c7c7-4ffe-ad48-841baffc3767.webp?v=1780946218"},{"product_id":"qing-dynasty-beige-russet-jade-amulet-carving-of-coiling-dragon","title":"Qing dynasty jade dragon amulet, Tang style carving","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis jade amulet is carved in beige and russet stone as a dragon coiling around a column, worked in the Tang style — meaning the carver was deliberately reaching back several centuries for a visual language rather than working in the taste of his own day, a fairly common practice in Qing dynasty jade carving that treated earlier dynastic styles as something worth reviving rather than replacing. Two holes drilled through the base let the piece be threaded and worn or suspended, which was presumably the point from the start.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDragons coiling around columns or pillars appear across Chinese decorative arts as a motif tied to imperial and protective symbolism, and rendering one in jade rather than bronze or stone added both cost and a material believed to carry its own protective qualities. The colour variation between the beige and russet tones running through the stone follows the dragon's form closely enough that it looks deliberate rather than incidental, which is the kind of detail worth a second glance before assuming it's just how the jade came.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035676594509,"sku":"2976","price":160.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/222-20240124_082033-PhotoRoom_664026e5-728a-4ee8-b7da-fb6e532ba8ca.webp?v=1780946289"},{"product_id":"qing-dynasty-yong-shoutian-romance-of-the-three-kingdoms-snuff-bottle","title":"Early Republic Yong Shoutian snuff bottle, 1916","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis inside-painted glass snuff bottle carries a battle scene from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, worked entirely from the inside of the glass with a bent brush — a technique that demands the painter build the image in reverse, since whatever goes down first ends up furthest from view. The bottle is dated to the Fire-Dragon year (丙辰), corresponding to 1916, and signed by Yong Shoutian (永受田作) with a red seal mark, placing it in the early Republic era rather than the Qing dynasty proper, though the style and training behind it belong squarely to the late Qing tradition of inside-painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYong Shoutian was among the recognized names working in this specialist field as the practice moved from imperial workshops into wider circulation during the transition out of Qing rule, and a signed, dated example like this one gives collectors something more concrete to go on than the unsigned bottles that make up most of the market. The battle scene itself is rendered with the kind of narrative detail inside-painting is prized for — small figures, real movement, a story you can actually follow rather than a decorative blur.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition. Some internal cracks.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035677086029,"sku":"2913","price":1350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/PhotoRoom_014_20240124_165430.jpg?v=1780946296"},{"product_id":"sanxingdui-bronze-bird-phoenix-statue-shang-dynasty","title":"Bronze phoenix statue, Sanxingdui style","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis bronze phoenix stands on a square column, cast in the distinctive style associated with the Sanxingdui bronzes of ancient Sichuan — angular, stylised birds that remain some of the more instantly recognisable forms in early Chinese bronze work. The original Sanxingdui finds date back to the Shang dynasty, roughly 1600–1045 BC, and pieces like this one continue that visual language in a smaller, more decorative form.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere's a directness to the design that comes through even at this scale — the bird reads clearly despite the geometric simplification, which is very much the point of the style it draws from. A good piece for anyone drawn to early Chinese form language without needing the archaeology to go with it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good vintage condition. Tarnishing and corrosion to bronze appropriate to age.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035679510861,"sku":"2971","price":280.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/259-20240124_083242-PhotoRoom_f1322dc0-a2f0-496a-b65d-514116c7de63.webp?v=1780946321"},{"product_id":"vintage-chinese-burnt-red-cloisonn-bottle-vase-pink-and-blue-dogwood-flowers","title":"Chinese cloisonné bottle vase, pink and blue dogwood","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"auto\"\u003eThis tianqiuping takes its name from the tall, globular bottle-vase form the Chinese ceramic and metalwork traditions borrowed back and forth from each other for centuries, here worked in bronze and enamelled in a deep burnt red ground. Dogwood blossoms in pale blue and soft pink spread across the surface in cloisonné, the wirework outlines catching the light differently depending on where you're standing — worth turning in the hand rather than viewing from one angle only.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\" dir=\"auto\"\u003eCloisonné enamelling on bronze reached particular refinement in China from the Qing dynasty onward, prized for the labour involved in setting each thin metal wire before the enamel was fired into place colour by colour. A floral subject like dogwood, rendered with this much restraint against a bold ground colour, sits well in that decorative tradition without tipping into anything overworked.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eExcellent condition, no visible damage to the enamel.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035726336333,"sku":"2606","price":150.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/https_3A_2F_2Fi.etsystatic.com_2F29579960_2Fr_2Fil_2F44486e_2F5385074266_2Fil_fullxfull.5385074266_j5fp_bc18c884-d709-4e15-92da-23b110fd9113.jpg?v=1780946561"},{"product_id":"wang-hing-chinese-export-gilded-solid-silver-salt-cellars-miniature-trophy-cups","title":"Wang Hing Chinese export gilded silver salt cellars, pair","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eThis pair of silver salt cellars takes the form of miniature two-handled trophy cups, each set on a stepped pedestal base with high-relief decoration running around the borders, and each interior finished in gold wash — a common touch on Chinese export silver, since gilding protected the metal from salt's corrosive effects while also looking rather grand for something meant to hold a condiment.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal\"\u003eWang Hing was one of the most prolific and well-regarded workshops producing silver for Western export out of Hong Kong in the late nineteenth century, and pieces from the firm are marked accordingly — these carry the stamp \"WH90\" on the base, along with an additional Chinese character mark, both fairly typical of the firm's output from this period. Export silver like this was made specifically to appeal to European and American taste while still showing off the technical skill of Chinese silversmiths, and a pair this small and specific in form is the kind of thing that tends to survive as a set far less often than it should.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3 style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"\u003eGreat antique condition. Some very light wear to gilt.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035827261773,"sku":"1752","price":165.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/IMG_1141-PhotoRoom.jpg?v=1780946658"},{"product_id":"meiji-period-arita-blue-and-white-charger-with-pheasant","title":"Meiji period Arita blue and white charger with pheasant","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArita's kilns spent much of the nineteenth century supplying blue and white ware to markets well beyond Japan, and pieces like this one, produced from the 1890's into the early twentieth century, were built to be looked at as much as used. Hand-painted in cobalt beneath the glaze, the decoration shows a pheasant sheltering among peony blooms, with a gnarled prunus branch and trailing bamboo filling the space above, a combination that turns up again and again in export Arita of this period precisely because it worked so well.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe brushwork carries the piece: loose, confident washes for the peony petals sit against tightly hatched linework on the pheasant's plumage, and the cobalt pools and shades unevenly in places, the kind of variation that comes from a brush loaded by hand rather than a transferred pattern. Turn it over and the unglazed footring carries the characteristic iron-oxide wash and scatter of firing grit typical of Arita export ware of the period, small imperfections that were simply part of how these pieces came out of the kiln rather than damage sustained afterwards.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChargers of this style were made for display as readily as for the table, and the scale of the painting itself gives the composition room to breathe in a way a smaller plate never could.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood antique condition with wear and manufacturing irregularities commensurate with age. There are scattered firing imperfections, glaze blemishes, inclusions and small areas of surface wear visible throughout. The underside displays firing\/stilt marks and wear to the unglazed foot rim. Please refer closely to the photographs for condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54592363168077,"sku":"4830","price":280.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/IMG_2697-Photoroom.jpg?v=1787788849"},{"product_id":"chinese-famille-rose-porcelain-fu-lu-shou-figures-set-of-three","title":"Chinese famille rose porcelain Fu Lu Shou figures, set of three","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Sanxing, or Three Star Gods, are among the most recognisable figures in Chinese decorative art, and rarely appear alone. Fu brings happiness and good fortune, Lu brings prosperity and status, and Shou, instantly identifiable by his domed forehead and the peach-branch staff he leans on, brings long life. Displayed together, the three cover most of what a household could reasonably wish for.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis set is rendered in dense, bright famille rose enamels over moulded porcelain, each figure dressed in patterned court robes worked in red, turquoise, yellow and pink, with the kind of layered ornamentation that rewards a slow look rather than a glance. Fu carries a ruyi sceptre, Lu holds a child on his arm, and Shou grips his staff and a large peach, the traditional symbol of immortality. Each figure stands on an unglazed base carrying an impressed red seal mark.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSets like this were produced across the twentieth century for the export and domestic decorative market, and their enduring popularity says as much about the strength of the symbolism as it does about the craftsmanship. Displayed as a trio, they hold their own on a shelf, sideboard or mantelpiece without needing anything else around them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExcellent antique condition. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54611293831501,"sku":"4835","price":395.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/IMG_2764-Photoroom.jpg?v=1788035762"},{"product_id":"qing-dynasty-chinese-giltwood-kitchen-god-shrine-figures","title":"Qing dynasty Chinese giltwood Kitchen God shrine figures","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLong before central heating, the stove was the emotional centre of a Chinese household, and Zao Jun, the Kitchen God, was the deity charged with watching over it. Once a year, tradition holds that he travelled to heaven to report on the family's conduct, which is why households kept him close and treated him well: better to be on good terms with the one god who filed an annual report on you. This shrine group, likely representing Zao Jun and his consort, would have sat above or beside a stove for exactly that purpose.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe pair are carved in wood and finished in red lacquer and gilding, seated formally on high-backed thrones with robes worked in raised dragon and cloud motifs, their faces painted a striking vermilion and their headdresses still carrying fragments of the original textile trim. One figure holds a small attendant on his lap, carved separately and simply set in place rather than fixed, so it lifts free for closer inspection. The accompanying plaque, in the same red and gilt palette, bears an inscription that most plausibly reads towards Zao Jun's name and an honorific wish for good fortune.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis is a Qing dynasty piece, dating to the nineteenth century, with the carving and gilding technique consistent throughout. What survives here, the figures, the attendant, and the plaque together, is an unusually complete example of a type of devotional grouping that rarely comes down intact.Qing dynasty Chinese giltwood Kitchen God shrine figures | Zao Jun\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGood decorative antique condition, with wear consistent with age and long devotional use. There is rubbing and loss to the gilding and polychrome throughout, along with chips, small losses and areas of exposed timber. The textile trim to both headdresses is worn and frayed. The plaque shows surface craquelure and cracking with some loss around the edges. The small attendant figure is designed to be removable and is not fixed in place.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54611303924045,"sku":"4836","price":425.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/IMG_2791-Photoroom.jpg?v=1788036913"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/collections\/ChatGPT_Image_Jun_25_2026_01_37_18_AM.png?v=1782348118","url":"https:\/\/ritasbazaar.co.uk\/collections\/asian-antiques.oembed?page=5","provider":"Rita’s Bazaar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}