When thinking of buying Asian antiques, or starting a collection in this field, one thinks of amassing rare snuff bottles, wooden and jade carvings, furniture or intricate lacquer boxes. If you decide to start any antique collection, it's always advisable to study the area of antiques you are interested in before you actually purchase anything. Attend a lot of auctions and meet the dealers. Try to hold as many pieces as you are allowed and try commissioning a specialist to bid for you, even if they charge a tenth of the bid. Remember, it will take many years and hands-on experience to build your knowledge about antiques and you may commit expensive mistakes if you are not entirely careful.
When deciding to buy an item, it is important to remember that each antique piece is a unique handcrafted work of art and this is the foundation for its value. Other factors to consider are the condition of the piece and the workmanship. One must also consider the artistic merit of the piece, or how complicated the artwork was. The market value of the piece is also dictated by the forces of supply and demand; if demand for the piece is great, the prices will go high and vice versa. However, if you're fortunate enough to own a piece of exceptional rarity and quality, the price is unlikely to fall in the next years and will even sell much better if you take good care of it. Also, the antique's provenance adds greatly to its value; if a well-known collector owned it before you did, it does make the price higher.
When going to an antique sale, it's a good idea to look at the stock of the seller, as sometimes there are two similar pieces and one sells for less than the other. There are also "sleeper" items that are easily overlooked because of their size, which you can luckily purchase at a bargain price. Sometimes, a piece can be wrongly described at an auction, so you can buy a great piece if you look closely and see what others overlook. Lucky finds at cheap bargain prices are increasingly rare and most collectors say that it's their more expensive pieces that have become the best bargains.
Small antique items are very much in demand now, like intricately-carved pendants. The skilled craftsmanship required to produce such exquisite pieces which are difficult to forge and are less likely to be mass produced. There are a limited number of small antique pieces in the world and these usually appeal to buyers from Hong Kong and China more than they do to European collectors.
If you are interested in collecting Japanese pieces, a "netsuke" and "inro" are your best bets to start with. These are miniature carvings in wood or ivory designed to be toggles or handling pieces for an "inro". They are at most an inch high and work like modern key chains. An "inro" is a lacquered container that is exquisitely designed and decorated to which the "netsuke" is attached to with a short cord. The "inro" was used as an ancient pillbox or a miniature cosmetic case. Japanese lacquered pieces are also good pieces to collect, as the workmanship is usually superb. These pieces are difficult to produce and even more difficult to fake. The lacquered piece needs many thin layers fit into place before any decorating or painting can be done and to finish one piece takes a long time. Decorations can be made of a combination of fine shell inlay, thin metal work, multi-colored lacquer and gold.
In determining the value of Japanese art, you must determine the amount and quality of workmanship that went into creating a "netsuke" and "inro". In the market, a fine "netsuke" can double the amount of a good "inro". These pieces are predicted to be mainstays in the Asian art market, so buying Japanese lacquered pieces is a good investment. If you are inclined to buying jade, don't think that bigger is better. Again, the reverse is true: the smaller and finer the jade piece, the more valuable it can be. Your jade piece cans a command higher price if it has a flawless quality in the workmanship and if it maintains a solid and vibrant color.
Pendants and small snuff bottles are hot commodities in today's antique market, however, large jade carvings are also a sensible and stable investment. Jade is especially difficult to carve and some remarkable pieces have surfaced that show the mastery and perseverance of the carver. These pieces are found as bowls, figurines and animals. Eighteenth and nineteenth century jade pieces make up the more exquisite batch of jade carvings and are some of the best buys on the market. Chinese stone bottles and jade snuff bottles are also good buys. Good choices are bottles that are perfectly formed and these are usually the more affordable option for first-time collectors.
Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Antiques