Early Kang-he Famille Noire Jar and Cover with Crested Pheasants, Plate 1911

An original antique color plate from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, London, 1911, this sheet shows a famille noire jar and cover, the black ground under a thin green glaze, marked with a double circle in underglaze blue. Crested pheasants perch on slab rocks and branches among peony and yulan magnolia, all outlined and hatched in black before the enamels were laid on. The cover has a blue knob, a peony arabesque and a border of ju-i heads. Gorer and Blacker describe it as Early Kang-he period and record it in the Franks Collection, British Museum; height 18 1/4 inches (46 cm), diameter 7 5/8 inches (20 cm).

The plate comes from Chinese Porcelain and Hard Stones, the two volume work that Edgar Gorer and J. F. Blacker published through Bernard Quaritch of 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London, in 1911. Two hundred and fifty four full page plates were printed in color by a photo mechanical process, each one facing a page of letterpress in English and French that described the piece. The edition was limited to one thousand numbered copies. The plates are color collotypes, and the book records that it was produced and printed by the Menpes Printing and Engraving Company of London and Watford.

Each sheet shows a single piece or group photographed against a plain ground, at a consistent scale and format throughout the book, with the plate number printed in red below. The book's text, which faced each plate, gives the authors' description, the period they assigned and the collection the piece was in.

Even age toning. A few small foxing spots in the margin. All four corners complete.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.