2 - Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
Fig. 1: Cups and saucers bearing the owner's name, Madam Xie Bai Xue (Cheah Phaik Suat Neoh in Hokkien) of Penang. She died in 1936 aged 61 and I assume this set was commissioned for her milestone tua seh jit birthday, the occasion of which the crane roundel indicates.
The coloured version looks rather like an experiment: overpainting on existing white-ground pieces is quite a common upgrade. This results in the already gaudy nyonyawares assuming an anything-goes palette hitherto unencountered, but which is read as rare or unique by those who will not see.
In this case, however, I remain open-minded, as the mauve and green enamels are of similar quality and look like they were fired at the same time. It is curious that the motifs are not outlined in black entirely as they are in the white version, and that the green of the ground and the green of the leaves are the same and merge into each other. One might surmise the black outlines were concealed where they merge, but if you observe the parts where the green glaze pools thickly – as in the stalk of the lotus leaf – the black outline still remains visible. Surely the dark green leaves were not white to begin with?
The yellow on the other hand is matt and not so unctuous; some brown crazing is evident. It would not make much sense if the obverse yellow areas were white to begin with as the definition of the crane would be all but lost, and it would not balance the mauve on the reverse.
Whenever I see something unusual like this, my immediate response is to question where the other matching pieces are.
I was initially asked not to show this piece as some consider it ugly, but to me ugly things, like people, like lives, have always mattered and often have more worth, in-depth stories and important lessons to impart.
Fig. 2: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The yellow egg cup – doctored from a wine cup, a form hitherto unencountered in nyonyaware - cannot hold an egg properly. Unless you are looking through rose-coloured glasses, there can be no good excuse for a wrong shape, or a wrongly-proportioned one, or an unfunctional one. No amount of pathetic excuses and lies can alter this fact.
Bleached porcelain blanks of the Republican era are quite easily found in the flea markets of Jingdezhen, where shopowners with fag ends dangling from their mouths can be seen sandpapering them into three-dimensional canvases awaiting reincarnation.
In June 1985, two articles appeared in the Singapore Sunday Monitor citing that fakes of Peranakan material culture were starting to infiltrate the market, with even dealers having a hard time in identifying the fakes. Old vases and kamchengs were stripped of their decorations and refired with Peranakan designs, mostly in Hong Kong.
(Tye, Kim Khiat. “Singaporeans fall for Peranakan fakes”. Singapore: Sunday Monitor 16 June 1985.
“Peranakan fakes from Hong Kong”. Singapore: Singapore Monitor 23 June 1985).
Fig. 3: This tazza arrived at its sales destination just prior to Chinese New Year in 2010. Only two such tazzas were made, as an experiment to see if painting quality can be improved upon since an awakening of the traditional Chinese Peranakan identity in the 1990s brought with it a resurgence of contemporary nyonyaware being exported to Malaysia, Singapore and anywhere else which wanted them. I was told it was a frustrating task getting the workshop to do it properly via email, and as soon as the artists get close to an acceptable style of painting, the middleman in China changes to a cheaper factory for more profit, and so the process has to start all over again.
Also around the same time, other items like powder boxes started to appear on the market, with some vendors pricing them at antique prices while some others charged more reasonably. As usual, customers had to make up their own minds. Notice the creamy enamels, the brilliant white bases and the unlikely dirt accumulated on the footrims. Likewise, why should the mouth rims of the covers and bases be so stained, especially if they were stored in their covered state?
As early as my second visit to Jingdezhen in October 2009 with the South-East Asian Ceramic Society, West Malaysia Chapter, a prominent workshop we visited already had a tiny section with artists copying nyonyaware from a book, with production in small numbers: about two or three pieces and no more than ten. It is only common sense that things produced in limited small quantities are deemed more precious and rare. Copies from books and websites are credible from that particular angle only but are hard-pressed to feature associated marks and accuracy from other angles.
By the next year, very convincing rarities began their infiltration of the market, with in-and-out chupus leading the way, fooling even veteran collectors. It became suspicious when as soon as one had sold, another took its place almost immediately. Upon comparison with the original museum piece, the dissimilarity became obvious. Still, production has not stopped to this day. Buyers do not diminish; in fact, "there's one born every minute". There are always new gewgaws to entertain their whims, with forms, decoration and colour schemes hitherto never seen or even heard of.
Fig. 4: Some fakes are fine and quite delicately done, like the chongzhai, or what is known as the insect pattern.
The antique as you can see has a more earthy, rich and ethnic feel, and the identifying chrysanthemum mark is not as spindly and sparse.
At the other end of the spectrum, some examples of contemporary manufacture rely on being rough and coarse to make it more believable that no one in their right minds would replicate such unsightly things, forgetting that the Chinese are famed for their entrepreneurship. Their hardworking forefathers around the world gritted their teeth, scrimped and saved literally penny by penny to become successful, and no amount of toil was too tedious for them. This is still true nowadays because it is human nature of survival and success. I hardly need mention it should actually be easier to earn $10 per piece for ten small items or hastily-done slipshod pieces, than $100 for a larger or more meticulously rendered piece.
Fig. 5: If you thought this coarse example sourced in Malaysia in 2012 was the odd one out as it has enamel paint colours and sports auspicious characters on the rim instead of the associated surname, you would only be partially right. Sorry, a bit of a trick question this.
This pink butterfly Pan surname plate was bought in Jingdezhen in October 2012.
The pair of plates on the top - photographed in situ in Jingdezhen - was also bought on the same visit, from another seller. Both the sellers had no idea what nyonyaware was, and described them simply as the butterfly design. They obviously had no idea what the reverse is supposed to look like. The original antique Pan surname plates and mark are shown below.
Again the same story: I was told they are produced in only small quantities to test the market and then no more after that unless there is demand.
Much more convincing examples have evolved from these, but whose giveaway are toothpaste-white bases and assiduously copied marks which sometimes are applied too carefully.
2012 seemed to be when all these newnyawares (a term coined by a good friend to whom I dedicate this article) reached a wider, mass market.
Fig. 6: Sorry, another trick question. These are all older than I.
The story of the odd one out: In November 2012, I saw some bits and bobs of old and damaged nyonyaware which were sent to China for the workshops to copy from. I was told they only ever dealt with the agents, never the workshop direct. The first try is almost always disastrous; good copies were forthcoming from the third try onwards. Once they have it down to an R or an S, Tomfoolery can begin with the more conventional green ground and moving swiftly upwards to rare colours which would make some green with envy and some green with bilious puke. Again, orders are in small quantities – around six per pattern – but six here and half a dozen there would lead to quite a substantial order. Some orders could be completed in as fast as a month. Notice the sticker on this old cover, which translates as “all-flower design reference”.
There was another damaged old green cover featuring the signature nyonyaware phoenix and peony design affixed with a similar “phoenix and flower design reference” sticker.
The classic all-peony and phoenix-peony designs - being perennially popular - are copied ad nauseam until artists can probably do it with their eyes closed for their blinded customers who cannot differentiate between porcelain enamels, gouache, poster colours, emulsion paint and enamel paint.
Certain rare series, however, are released in controlled batches to make it seem like a natural process, with the in-out four-seasons flowers design being in vogue for the past couple of years, probably to test if you have 20/20 vision. This design is highly-regarded enough to be featured on the back page of Christie's 30th. September 1995 catalogue.
Fig. 7: Just to show it can be easily done, this classic nyonyaware double-pheasant design plate was achieved by a Fujian kiln in 2018, using photographs as reference. Only four were made and they were sold off as study pieces.
The antique one. A rare six-character mark was chosen, and as usual the difference becomes more evident when you compare. Comparisons are odious but necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff. Just pinch your nose when you do it. Note as striking as all the colours are, they belong, and no colour in particular is jarring or jumps out at you.
It is obvious that white wares are the easiest and fastest to produce, as you simply paint on the white porcelain blanks. They are also easier to sell in quantity, being more easily affordable, especially small pieces.
To obtain coloured ground ware, you could either carefully colour in the background of an antique white piece – in which case extra care must be taken to ensure the existing enamels of the design remain unmarred during refiring - or you could simply start with a blank. Just as old canvases are available, so are tons of old porcelains which can be upcycled. Besides, the formula for making porcelain has not changed over the years, and neither have potter's wheels or implements; old kilns can still be used, fired by wood and in particular pine. If you can learn to reproduce a painting style, how much more difficult can it be to throw a particular shape or trim a footrim accordingly if you really try hard enough?
Best of all, why not use a certifiable old base and just build on top of it? It can be, and is, easily done. I have seen photos of double-based fakes, the lower base being the genuine antique one.
A final ironical word about white wares. Returning to the wine cup of Fig. 2 as an example, or say a kamcheng, would the selling price be higher for common green-coloured ground or never-seen-before white ground and if the latter, then why bother to waste time and effort to laboriously fill in the background with colour, carefully making sure none of the fine outlines are covered? White tablewares are the most common by far, but why are there no white kamchengs, chupus and other containers which match by featuring the same phoenix, peony and eight Buddhist emblems design? Should not every dinner service come with at least one? For an answer, please read my first article, “The Identity of Ambiguity”.
CONCLUSION:
As human nature remains basically the same and past mistakes are not learnt from, so history logically repeats itself.
I came across this in social media: “Be careful when you're blindly following the masses. Sometimes the M is silent”. That only high-end pieces are replicated because the returns are high, is a fallacy. At any Chinese fund-raising event, the famous rallying cry is always “the more you donate, the more goes to charity, but however little you part with will never be refused”. The hardworking and talented artists and porcelain workers who replicate such niche-market wares for impatient, greedy and obsessive collectors who are happy and proud to buy them are truly shifus - masters of their craft. Willing seller, willing buyer; there are no winners and losers when everyone gets what they deserve. The porcelain industry is alive and well in China (and Vietnam), and kicking ass.
I conclude by showing details of two plates. You can make up your own minds, I'm sure!
The truth shall set you free but lies will set you back. Buy with your dollars, but use your sense.
- THE END -
Please also see my other article - "HOW TO SPOT FAKE NYONYAWARE – A GENERAL GUIDE" - at https://kenyap227.wixsite.com/my-site/post/how-to-spot-fake-nyonyaware-a-general-guide
Acknowledgement: The author wishes to genuinely thank all those who have helped with this article.