Asian Antiques and Collectibles

Asian cultures are among the oldest in the world and are associated with some of the finest and most interesting antiques and collectible objects on the planet. Innovation and top-notch artistry led to the creation of fine porcelain ware, painted silk scrolls, and paper screens, seen in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Indian cultures. Japan's ancient style of dress, particularly the colorful kimonos inspired by the Noh theater, are highly collectible, as are netsuke, the figurines carved out of ivory or coral used to fasten containers called inro to men's obi sashes. The Japanese were also known for their ukiyo-e woodblock prints and technically superior samurai swords. Chinese artisans mastered the skill of carving jade, a precious stone believed to have special powers, into delicate figurines, jewelry, and other objects, including weapons. Chinese and Korean potters, meanwhile, created the jade-like celadon glaze for stoneware and a strong white clay now known as porcelain. Both Chinese and Japanese artists painted extravagant, intricate scenes onto their vases, bowls, and other porcelain objects. Common motifs on these vases, as well as in Asian antiques and statues, included dragons, lions, tigers, Buddhas, flowers, birds, mountains, moons, and characters from folklore. Of these Asian societies, China’s is not the oldest—that title goes to the civilizations that flowered in present-day India and Pakistan along the banks of the Indus River—but it is arguably the most innovative when it comes to inventions that have shaped the course of history. Chinese artisans were early pioneers in making paper, and the first to give the world a means of printing in the form of woodcuts. Chinese inventors were also the first to perfect a recipe for gunpowder, to forge cast iron, and to devise a plowshare that was not so difficult to force through a field (the secret, which seems obvious today, was to shape the plowshare like a wedge). In the decorative arts, the Chinese were the first to figure out how to transform caterpillar cocoons into silk, which made a strong and handsome textile for clothing. Silk also proved to be a suitable material for scroll paintings, either as a surface or backing for calligraphy on paper. Chinese jewelry did wonders with jade, while Chinese sculptors were also infatuated with the stone, whether it was jadeite or nephrite, turning the mineral into everything from snuff bottles to pieces of fine jewelry. Lacquerware is another Chinese invention, even though Europeans once confused the practice of heavily shellacking wood or cloth with techniques from Japan. Less confusing is china, the kaolin-based hard-paste porcelain, whose quality stymied European potteries from Staffordshire to Meissen to Limoges for hundreds of years. Even though Japan may not be able to take the credit for lacquerware, its artisans and inventors have given the world countless creations. For example, Japanese sword-making techniques are among the most sophisticated on the planet, aided by the rich tradition of sword-wielding Japanese samurai warriors. As for turning cocoons into silk, that practice may have started in China but vintage Japanese silk kimonos are coveted by collectors. The pocketless kimonos also gave us sagemono, whose elements include inro boxes attached to obi sashes by cords, which are fastened by carved netsuke. And even though the Chinese invented the technique of woodcut, the Japanese arguably perfected it in their woodblock prints, which inspired a good deal of Western painting and design in 19th-century Europe, particularly in France. Japan’s nearest Asian neighbor, Korea, is only 130 miles away. There, ceramics blossomed, first with coil- and slab-built pieces in the iron age, then with pieces thrown on a wheel. For a while, in the 12th century, Korean celadon ceramics were highly prized in China, but when the Koryo dynasty was toppled, the quality of Korean celadon ware suffered. So did Korean ceramists, some of whom, in the 16th century, were forcibly relocated to Japan. Of the Korean ceramists who remained, they excelled in a white porcelain called paekcha, which was glazed in strong colors ranging from copper reds to cobalt blues. As for India, where Asia’s first civilization began, the decorative arts there have borrowed from numerous sources, revealing Hindu, Islamic, and Colonial aesthetic sensibilities. During the reign of the maharajas from the early 18th century to the mid-20th century, silver-embossing techniques were perfected, as seen in the jewelry worn by maharajas and members of their courts. Gemstones such as diamonds, sapphires, and rubies studded the surfaces of rings, bracelets, and necklaces, as well as the scabbards and hilts of swords and their shorter cousins, kukris and gurkhas. Woodworking was also perfected, as seen in the sandalwood and Indian rosewood boxes that held everything from game pieces to pens, and whose surfaces were decorated with detailed marquetry. More recently, in the 20th and 21st centuries, luridly colored lithographed advertising has become popular among collectors, as have Bollywood movie posters.