Don't feel bad if you get fooled, we all take a loss now and then. It can range from the fakers in the world of Chinese porcelain, right down to your local auto mechanic.

TL testing is not available for the smaller, more fragile pieces, so naturally the fakers focus in that area. Much safer for them. But you can still take steps to avoid being cheated. I have a little trick I use that has helped me a few times in the past to identify a fake that has been mass produced. It involves computer graphics and allows you to take any image, be it from the British Museum, or just eBay, and create a thumbprint. This can be compared to another piece you think is a copy.

The fakers of today need to turn a quick profit, and that means setting up mass production techniques for both the body and decoration of the pieces they peddle. Over the years I've collected hundreds of images from museums and private collections world wide. When I examine any new piece, I have a good source of reference in these images, as well as my regular library of books. I encourage the reader to do the same.

For an example of how useful graphics can be, just last week I noticed a site offering some very authentic looking pieces for sale. They offered pieces from all dynasties, so I zeroed in on their Yuan and Ming pieces. Something caught my eye in the similarities between two Yuan dynasty blue and white stem cups.  The pieces were almost too good to be true in appearance. The price on one was listed as $6,500.00 US dollars, the other was listed as "Price on Request". I inquired and was immediately given a quote of $1,300.00 US dollars. Either of these (if authentic) would fetch about $500,000.00 US dollars at a Christie's or Sotheby's auction. This seemed a little suspicious to me, so I decided to examine a little closer using my graphics thumbprint method. Here's how I looked at them.

Using a good graphics program (like Paint Shop Pro), I created a sort of thumbprint of the first stem cup. In this case, the inner bowl surface of the stem cup's raised prunus decoration.  It was the similarity of this to the second cup's decoration that initially caught my eye. I then pinpointed each of the blossoms by drawing a red dot as shown below.

Stem cup #1

Using the graphics selection option, I then selected only the 26 red dots I created, copied and pasted them as a new image against a white background. This new image, with the grid, now gave me a very precise map (or thumbprint) to work with.

The next step was to take the second stem cup's image, and use the grid option to map, rotate, and resize. When that was complete, I used the first thumbprint to overlay onto the second cup's image. In this case it's a perfect lineup, giving away the secret of them both coming from the same mold and not an individually carved decoration as advertised. The image below shows the lineup and comparison. Once I had the size and rotation mapped out, I used yellow dots on the second stem cup . When positioning the first stem cups thumbprint over it, you can see the exactness. Only a slight view of the yellow shows since I created the yellow dots from scratch on the second cup.

Stem cup #2

I also did an overlay alignment with the diameter of both stem cups relative to the thumbprint.  Just further confirmation that the bowl portion of both stem cups came from the same mold. The diameter of stem cup number 2 is a perfect circle, but the lip of stem cup number 1 was possibly ground down in a few areas. Another inconsistency I noticed was in the decoration. If this were done during the Yuan dynasty, the color (shade) of blue cobalt would be identical since they would be from the same kiln, (confirmed by the same mold), and quite possibly from the same firing. The exterior decoration of each cup is indeed the correct shade of Mohammedan blue, but the inside classic scroll on the 2nd stem cup is off just a bit, it seems to have a slight shade of native cobalt instead. Though some discoloring can occur in the same firing from different placement within the kiln, it would affect the entire piece, not just the inner or outer decoration.

The press-mold technique for ceramics was used as early as the Song dynasty, so it was in existence by the Yuan dynasty. This does not mean it was used exclusively. Some raised (or recessed) decorations were individually carved before firing, not just created by the press-mold technique. Yuan wares are known for their individuality and free flowing design of both body and decoration, not so much for the exactness of mass production.  The same applies to some early Ming wares. I just find it suspicious that two cups from the same mold, having different shades of cobalt decoration are being offered for sale by the same seller. Could there be a psychological game with one showing the price of 6500 and the other as Price on Request? Will nibbling at the Price on Request tell the seller the prospective buyer has seen the almost identical 6500 dollar one, surely they will jump at this one for 1300? There are many questions here.

Their site looked very professional and my inquiries were answered within minutes, even offered items not listed on their site. Their policy section only mentioned a 7-day return policy if not satisfied, but no criteria for the return. When I inquired to my having Oxford Authentication run a test, and how that would affect the return, the communication came to an abrupt halt. About a week later I received a very short reply stating their items were sold as is, in other words no refund if TL testing proved them fake.

This doesn't prove they are fakes, they could be authentic. The sellers may be honest. There are just too many inconsistencies involved for me to feel comfortable with them.

It's really getting impossible now to tell the authentic from the fake, and the market has become saturated. You really have to be on your toes.

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Update:

Someone challenged my eye on my 'thumbprint' theory. That's good, always good to question things, leads to a better understanding. It occurred to me that there is a better way to view the alignment than what is shown above. The red dots are a little too large to show the exactness of the lineup. I've created what I think is a better view using Java, so make sure you have Java enabled, then click here to view it in a better manner. If you are using a browser add-on that enables grab and drag scrolling, temporarily disable that function.

I'm leaving this page as is, since some may not have Java capability.

JP