PAGODA RED Asian Art and Furniture
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Midnight Glazed Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
A dark blue-black glaze coats the body of this small kitchen jar, sheeting down the sides and pooling at the sharp angle drawn by its high shoulders. The glazed vessel dates to the e...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Provincial Glazed Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
As evidenced by the interior glaze, this wide-mouth jar was once used in a provincial Qing-dynasty kitchen for storing food and condiments. The large vessel has a gently tapered form...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Drip Glaze Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Coated inside and out with a rich drip glaze, this early 20th century jar was originally used for storing foods and condiments in a Provincial Chinese kitchen. The wide-mouth jar has...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Provincial Chinese Half Table, circa 1800
Located in Chicago, IL
With clean lines and a simple Silhouette, this 19th century half table from Shanxi province expresses the restraint of classical Chinese furniture design. Crafted of northern elm (yu...
Category
Antique 19th Century Chinese Qing Furniture
Materials
Elm
Provincial Chinese Splayed Leg Stool, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This Provincial stool dates to the turn of the century and would have been used throughout a courtyard home as versatile everyday seating. Crafted of pine using mortise-and-tenon joinery, the tapered...
Category
20th Century Chinese Qing Stools
Materials
Pine
Ornately Carved Chinese Luohan Bed, circa 1550
Located in Chicago, IL
This gorgeous luohan daybed anchors its surroundings with its monumental scale and incredible carved decoration. Known as a luohan chuang, or couch bed, this form of low-backed daybe...
Category
Antique 16th Century Chinese Ming Furniture
Materials
Elm
Chinese Glazed Wine Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Crafted in the early 20th century, this small glazed jar was once used in a Qing-dynasty kitchen to store vinegar, wine or condiments, as evidenced by its narrow neck and interior gl...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Woven Market Basket with Divider, circa 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
It is easy to imagine someone, long ago, walking to market on a summer's day with this beautiful woven basket tucked under their arm. Hand-woven of willow and twine, the basket has a...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Decorative Baskets
Materials
Wood, Willow
Tapered Chinese Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
A rich, dark brown glaze coats the gently tapered form of this late 19th-century kitchen jar. As evidenced by the glazed interior, the jar was once used d...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Tapered Chinese Glazed Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Originally used to store foods or pickle vegetables in a provincial Chinese kitchen, this late 19th-century ceramic jar is coated inside and out with a richly-colored dark glaze. The...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Glazed Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
A lustrous, dark glaze clings to the squat form of this petite kitchen jar. The glazed vessel dates to the early 20th Century and was used for storing foo...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinese Drip Glaze Kitchen Jar, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
A captivating textured glaze coats the simple, slightly-tapered form of this Qing-dynasty kitchen jar. Drip patterns and firing imperfections give the jar fantastic character, castin...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Terracotta
Chinoiserie Gilt Lacquer Table Secretaire
Located in Chicago, IL
This charming tabletop secretaire is decorated in gold and black in the Chinoiserie style. The exterior is finished with black lacquer and painted with scenic mountain landscapes, br...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Secretaires
Materials
Wood, Lacquer
Chinese Prosperity Stone Disc, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This round stone disc originated as an early 20th-century threshing wheel. Secured to a wooden axel that ran through the center, the stone was rolled across...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Limestone
Chinese Prosperity Stone Disc, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This round stone disc originated as an early 20th-century threshing wheel. Secured to a wooden axel that ran through the center, the stone was rolled across...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Limestone
Vintage Chinese Deco Gold Bar Cigarettes Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This 1930s advertising poster for the Gold Bar Cigarettes company draws from a well known Chinese opera scene. It melds the meticulous detail of trad...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Deco Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This poster from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography—and a side of risque. The poster features a young woman dressed in a fur-trimmed coat with Western accessories...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese New York Cigarettes Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This commercial advertisement poster from 1930s Shanghai melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. Large companies often presen...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Deco Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This vintage poster from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the Craft of color lithography. The serene landscape print depicts a young woman d...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Posters
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Deco Medicine Pharmacy Advertisement Poster, c. 1920
Located in Chicago, IL
This advertising calendar poster dated from 1920 for the "Chinese and Western Medicine Pharmacy" melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. Compared to other Western influenced advertisements of the era featuring seductive women, posters like this one captivated consumers with the latest fashion trends. We see a woman with a Western hair cut...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Deco Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This commercial advertisement poster from 1930s Shanghai melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. Large companies often presented posters such as this to their clients to commemorate the Chinese New Year. This poster depicts a young woman luxuriously...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Hu Boxiang Cigarette Calendar Poster, c. 1931
Located in Chicago, IL
The famous commercial advertising artist Hu Boxiang created this advertisement calendar poster for the British American Tobacco Company in 1931. Unlike other poster artists, Hu was k...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Posters
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Hatamen Brand Cigarette Advertisement Poster, c. 1935
Located in Chicago, IL
With its product discretely located on the lower left, this early 20th century Shanghai poster for Hatamen cigarettes uses a dramatically rendered imag...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Victory Cigarettes Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This poster from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography and a side of risque. Posters like this one, influenced by ...
Category
Vintage 1930s Chinese Paintings and Screens
Materials
Paint, Paper
Vintage Chinese Deco White Horse Cigarette Advertisement Poster, 1936
Located in Chicago, IL
This calendar advertisement poster for White Horse cigarettes was produced by Hu Boxiang, a famous commercial advertising artist in Shanghai during the 1920s-1930s. Framed in a highly ornate floral border, a fashionable woman poses while gathering plum blossoms, emblems of winter and eternal beauty. Dressed in a traditional qipao but with Western hairstyle and accessories, the woman reflects the rising influence of Western advertising and the Art Deco movement during the economic boom of early 20th century Shanghai. Beneath this scene is a calendar for the year 1936, surrounded by packs of prominent cigarette brands...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Deco Excel Cigarettes Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This poster, a advertisement calendar for excel cigarettes from the 1930s, melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. This advertisement depicts a fashionable woman in traditional Chinese dress...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Lithograph Advertisement Poster, c. 1930
Located in Chicago, IL
This advertising poster from the 1930s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography that was popularized in China during the econom...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Vintage Chinese Lithograph Advertisement Poster, c. 1920
Located in Chicago, IL
This poster from the 1920s melds the meticulous detail of traditional Chinese painting with the craft of color lithography. The poster depicts two young girls gathered by an ornate stool...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Art Deco Prints
Materials
Paper
Chinese Double Guardian Headrest, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
To keep her elaborate hairstyle intact while sleeping, a well-to-do Qing-dynasty woman would use a rigid headrest or neck pillow to keep her head elevated. Whether functional or pure...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Qing Animal Sculptures
Materials
Porcelain
Chinese Brown Drip Glaze Vessel, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Tracing its roots back into the Han dynasty, this early 20th-century vessel emulates the full-bodied shapes and unusual glazing found in ancient ceramics...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Ceramics
Materials
Ceramic
Set of Three Provincial Chinese Wine Jugs, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
These early 20th century ceramic jars from China's Shandong province were formed with a bottle-neck shape meant for storing vinegar or rice wine. We suspect these jars were created to store wine for commercial sale, and were likely stoppered with a cork or wax seal. Left unglazed, the jugs are decorated only the irregular, organic smoke patterns created during the firing process. We love the neutral color story told by this set of vessels...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Jars
Materials
Ceramic
Chinese Bent Handle Fisherman's Basket, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Basket making is an ancient and humble craft, but in the hands of a skilled weaver a simple willow basket can become a truly beautiful work of art. This bent handle basket was made i...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Decorative Baskets
Materials
Wood, Fabric, Willow
Japanese Iron Tetsubin with Chrysanthemum Blossoms, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Decorated with stylized chrysanthemum blossoms, symbols of longevity and rejuvenation, this Japanese teapot was used to boil water for traditional tea ceremonies. Known as tetsubin, ...
Category
Early 20th Century Japanese Meiji Metalwork
Materials
Bronze, Iron
Pair of Framed Chinese Ancestor Portraits, circa 1880s
Located in Chicago, IL
Believing that the departed continue to hold influence over the lives of the living, many Chinese households honor their ancestors in private family rituals, invoking their spirits for long life, health, and prosperity. Commemorative portraits, which came into vogue in the late Ming and Qing dynasties, were commissioned specifically for ancestor worship and were believed to house the spirits of the deceased. When properly cared for, one's ancestors were believed to be a powerful source of honor, protection, and good luck.
This pair of ancestor portraits was hand-painted in the late-19th century and beautifully depicts a Qing-dynasty couple. While some ancestral portraits offer a more stylized representation of one's ancestors, this particular pair is painted with incredible realism and life-like expressions. Rather than depict the pair in a regal hall wearing elaborate finery, the couple is shown in a quiet home environment, seated at either end of a square tea table. Their surroundings are minimal, practically undecorated, and they wear simple, matching blue silk robes. Two young children stand beside them, each trying to capture the attention of their grandparent. We love the painting's close attention to detail and the glimpse it offers of Qing-dynasty interiors - from the carved apron of the marble-top table to the red silk lotus slippers...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Qing Paintings and Screens
Materials
Paper
Chinese Speckled Tri-Leg Stool, circa 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This rustic stool from Shanxi province charms with its simple form and fantastic texture. The wooden stool embraces the notion of "wabi-sabi" with its irregular surface textured with...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Stools
Materials
Pine
Chinese Marigold Yellow Storage Coffer, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
While most Chinese lacquered furniture is black or red in color, this 19th-century storage coffer is colored by a marigold-yellow lacquer finish with a wonderful crackled texture. Th...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Chinese Qing Furniture
Materials
Brass
Chinese Famille Rose Ginger Jar with Boys at Play, C. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
During the 18th century, Europeans provided an eager market for Chinese export porcelain, especially the colorful and fanciful ware known as “famille rose.” Named for a palette of opaque overglaze enamels that favored roses and pinks, famille rose porcelain ware was crafted with the same technical virtuosity as imperial porcelain but designed for Western tastes.
This round ginger jar is decorated with a lively scene of boys at play...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics
Materials
Enamel
Chinese Slatted Turn Chair, C. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This unusual early 20th-century chair can be raised or lowered with just a turn of the seat. A chair in two parts, the slatted seat and high back are connected to the square base by ...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Furniture
Materials
Iron
Chinese Shallow Wine Table, C. 1800
Located in Chicago, IL
Made for sharing and offering wine and spirits, this small table once gathered together convivial imbibers who engaged in group toasts and robust consumption. Dated to the 19th centu...
Category
Antique Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Furniture
Materials
Wood, Elm
Bronze Wrathful Deity Ring, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This sculptural bronze object is a charming example of 19th-century metalwork. The bronze figure is formed as a Buddhist wrathful deity, weari...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Mounted Objects
Materials
Bronze
Chinese Gilt Limestone Stele of Maitreya Buddha
Located in Chicago, IL
This intricate limestone stele of a standing buddha likely depicts Maitreya, the Buddha of the Future. The only Buddhist divinity revered as both a bodhisattva and a Buddha, Maitreya is prophesied to return to Earth some time in the distant future and continue the historic Buddha's teachings of the Dharma. Like the historic Shakyamuni Buddha, Maitreya is a compassionate being devoted to showing the path to enlightenment.
Carved in the style of sixth century Chinese statuary...
Category
20th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Limestone
Chinese Famille Rose Baluster Jar with Ancient Censers, C. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Beautifully commemorated on this lidded baluster jar, censers have been used for thousands of years in Chinese culture as a part of funeral rites or prayer offerings. Filled with dried aromatic plants and essential oils, the censer issued fragrant smoke that forged a connection to the spiritual realm. This late Qing-dynasty jar...
Category
20th Century Chinese Qing Jars
Materials
Porcelain, Ceramic
Set of Four Food Offering Mingqi Figures
Located in Chicago, IL
These petite ceramic sculptures are a type of centuries-old burial figurine known as míngqì or "spirit object." Depicting the pleasures of daily life, míngqì figurines ensured comfort and special treatment in the afterlife. Míngqì sculptures take the form of servants, entertainers, animals, furniture, and in this case, food and food offerings.
These tiny sculptures...
Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Chinese Archaistic Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Ceramic
Chinese Petite Coffer Chest, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
Perfectly proportioned for its petite size, this low elmwood chest is the ideal place to stow odds and ends. The charming cabinet has all the features of a traditional Chinese coffer - straight recessed legs, curving spandrels, and a floating-panel top that moves with the seasons. The small chest has a single shallow drawer...
Category
Antique 19th Century Chinese Qing Buffets
Materials
Wood, Lacquer, Elm
Pair of Red Lacquer Chinese Couplet Signs, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This pair of decorative red lacquer signs dates to the late 19th century and is carved in relief with a poetic couplet. Carved to resemble ink calligraphy, the couplet reads: "Do good deeds without questioning your happiness, pursue knowledge without forgetting your principles." The long, vertical signs...
Category
20th Century Chinese Qing Wall-mounted Sculptures
Materials
Wood, Elm, Lacquer
Chinese Blue and White Snuff Bottle
Located in Chicago, IL
A mixture of finely powdered tobacco, herbs, and spices, snuff was introduced to China in the 17th century by Western diplomats. Initially reserved for ranking members of Qing-dynast...
Category
20th Century Chinese Chinese Export Bottles
Materials
Ceramic, Porcelain
Provincial Chinese Grey Glazed Bowl, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
This 19th-century ceramic bowl is simply shaped with tapered sides and a heavy footed base. A cool grey glaze coats the bowl inside and out, pooling at the bottom with increased opac...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Decorative Bowls
Materials
Ceramic
Chinese Reverse Glass Table Screen with Floral Still Life, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
Prevalent in fine Chinese interiors as early as the Tang dynasty (618-906), standing screens with decorative panels served numerous functions as portable architecture. Used to sectio...
Category
Antique 19th Century Chinese Qing Paintings and Screens
Materials
Glass, Wood
"Tranquil River" Watercolor Painting
Located in Chicago, IL
This charming watercolor is composed in the style of traditional ink calligraphy and depicts two ducks resting on a river bank. Tall grass and leafy sprouts dot the rocky terrain and...
Category
20th Century Chinese Modern Paintings and Screens
Materials
Paper
Chinese Round Leg Altar Table, c. 1800
Located in Chicago, IL
With a clean lines and minimal decoration, this 19th-century offering table is at home in any contemporary room. Despite its modern form, the table incorporates many fundamental features of traditional Chinese table design: round legs...
Category
Antique 19th Century Chinese Qing Console Tables
Materials
Wood, Elm
Burmese Yun Lacquer Tray, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This round tray dates to the early 20th century and is a simple example of Burmese lacquerware. The tray is formed of thin bamboo strips that have been woven and coiled into shape, h...
Category
Early 20th Century Burmese Decorative Dishes and Vide-Poche
Materials
Bamboo
Monumental Chinese Stone Guanyin Head, c. 1800
Located in Chicago, IL
As the embodiment of compassion, Guanyin is the most beloved enlightened being in China. Known as the Goddess of Mercy, she is the female bodhisattva form taken by Avalokitesvara in eastern Buddhism and is instantly available to all who call upon her with their mind. Though commonly depicted as a woman in Chinese statuary...
Category
Antique Early 19th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Stone
Japanese Red Lacquer Negoro Hibachi with Rabbits, Edo Period, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
With monumental scale and beautiful, hand-carved details, this remarkable red lacquer hibachi is a true work of art. Designed to hold glowing embers, hibachi vessels such as this were used for cooking or as a source of heat in Japanese homes. Placed under a low wood kotatsu table...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Japanese Edo Lacquer
Materials
Metal, Bronze, Copper
Pair of Chinese Stone Door Posts with Mythical Elephants, c. 1850
Located in Chicago, IL
Passing through these impressive posts, a visitor to a Qing-dynasty estate would know he was entering someplace special. Used in a traditional courtyard entry to secure the doors as they swung open, these hand-carved posts are nonetheless ripe with symbolism. Double dragon medallions...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century Chinese Qing Pedestals
Materials
Limestone
Pair of Chinese Bronze Ho Ho Boy Candle Stands, C. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
These early 20th century candlesticks are cast of bronze in the form of two young boys dressed in flowing garments and standing on square pedestal bases. Each boy holds a dish for ta...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Metalwork
Materials
Bronze
Chinese Lotus Leaf Snuff Bottle, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
A mixture of finely powdered tobacco, herbs, and spices, snuff was introduced to China in the 17th century by Western diplomats. Initially reserved for ranking members of Qing-dynast...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Sculptures and Carvings
Materials
Porcelain
Tibetan Painted Longevity Box, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
This beautiful late 19th-century Tibetan box has an unusual trapezoidal form and is highly decorated in the Sino-Tibetan style in a palette of red, orange,...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Tibetan Tibetan Decorative Boxes
Materials
Wood
Provincial Chinese Courtyard Stool, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
Dated to the turn of the century, this provincial stool would have been used throughout a courtyard home as versatile everyday seating. Hand-crafted of pine, the tapered stool...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Stools
Materials
Pine
Provincial Chinese Tapered Stool, c. 1900
Located in Chicago, IL
More portable than chairs, stools were a versatile seating option for Qing-dynasty scholars, nobles, and peasants alike. The balanced proportions of this tapered stool...
Category
Early 20th Century Chinese Rustic Stools
Materials
Pine
Petite Bronze Garuda Figurine
Located in Chicago, IL
This petite bronze figurine is cast in the form of Garuda, a demigod and mythical king of birds in Hindu and Buddhist faith. Taking the form of half-bird...
Category
20th Century Chinese Figurative Sculptures
Materials
Bronze
