Is it an Antique? Wong Lee Porcelain


January 10, 2020

Is it an Antique? Wong Lee Porcelain

Find this gorgeous Wong Lee Porcelain Vase

Video Translation: Hi, this is Jennifer with City Farmhouse Antiques and I am here with this week's find of the week. Happy New Year! This is my first video of the year and I have a gorgeous piece of Wong Lee Porcelain here to show you. When you look at this piece you probably think what a gorgeous French antique and that is why many people do buy this porcelain, but this is actually not an antique. It is not a reproduction either. It is a modern, contemporary piece. Wong Lee International was founded in 1995 and they began exporting in 1999. It does have a commemorative makers mark of 1895 on the bottom that actually has a commemorative meaning of the end of the war between China and Japan in 1895. This took place exactly 100 years prior to the founding of the company which I think is pretty cool. Before you roll your nose up about the fact that this is a Chinese made piece ask yourself what is wrong with someone wanting to make high quality pieces that are gorgeous, have some weight to them, are not flimsy, but intricately detailed, and resemble the quality of old antiques. Who doesn't love French antiques, but not everyone can afford to go out and buy a French vase for thousands of dollars. If you can't afford thousands of dollars what is wrong with trying a piece like this and enjoying it for what it is? This piece is about 15" tall and done in the crackle glaze and there you can see the crackle glaze. You will be able to see it better on the bottom. It is in this elaborate bronze stand with these berry beaded ends that come over the top and it has this open mouth to it. When you come down you can see it is in this Art Nouveau style footed stand.  As I turn it around you can see the color is a teal blue with irises, buttercups, and dianthus flowers with ornate gold scrolling. This is a very stately piece, and very heavy. I can hardly turn it with my one arm. This would be a beautiful piece in a home, because it has a four sided design you could put it anywhere. It could be a centerpiece on a table, on a shelf, on an end table. I want to show you the bottom. This is where many times the confusion lies. I have the maker's mark upside down. Many people get confused because this maker never pretended to make antiques, never said he made antiques, but because many sellers don't realize these pieces are not antique that is where the confusion begins because it does look like an antique on the bottom, especially with the crackle glaze. This if you can see has a WL in the middle and a date of 1895, but like I said the meaning of the 1895 is the commemoration of the end of the war. It gets confused with the maker's mark from William Lowe who for W.L. pottery whose makers mark has more than one "L" whereas Wong Lee will have a W. and an L (only one L). They get a bad wrap, but this company never made these pieces out of deception and they are elegant, well designed pieces with a lot of detail. I just like the fact that you can have a really nice quality piece without having to spend 12,000 dollars on a vase. So keep that in mind, you always have options and I find it truly gorgeous which is why I bought it. Now you know the difference between Wong Lee porcelain and William Lowe porcelain which dated back from 1874 to 1930 so those are true antiques and these are not. Now when you see W.L. porcelain you will know what it is. Be sure and check out all our pieces on our website at www.cityfarmhouseantiques.com where we have more than just antiques, obviously, and give us a like on Facebook.



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