YOU ARE HERE:>>REAL or FAKE>>Fake Hares fur bowls page 4.

 

From David

 

Now having been able to examine these in person I would have to disagree with Arthur's evaluation.

One of the three bowls in question is genuine other  two are fakes.

But I do not believe these are of early 20th century manufacture as the wear is not consistent to that early of a period.

I believe they are no more than 10 - 15 years old and have seen very little use, or carrying back and forth to market.

These bowl were made to deceive.

 




.

In the above photograph we have the authentic Song Dynasty Jian ware bowl on the left - the TL tested reproduction on the right. Out of the three Jian ware bowls you sent to me the two smaller ones were both more recent reproductions, as they show very little wear use, and I would ascertain they were made less than 10-15 years ago. In these photographs we are only showing the one authentic Song Dynasty Jian ware bowl and the TL tested reproduction. The other reproduction, while colored slightly different shows the exact same lack of wear and other features which are on the TL tested bowl and not necessary to be shown (most likely they came from the same factory).

 

The photos on the right above we are showing the TL test drilling holes and the subtle differences of coloration between the authentic bowl and the reproduction bowl. While the Jian glazes are remarkable hard and resilient to wear, you will notice the reproduction bowl on the right has a higher sheen to it and also lacks the more reddish/purple aspects to the fired stone ware on the authentic bowl. Please note: not all bottoms, on all authentic Jian ware are exactly the same. There are differences from position in the kiln, the make-up of the stone ware and the firing temperatures etc.

 




.

The above two photos were taken of the inside of the reproduction bowls TL core drill holes at 10X and 30X magnification respectively. On authentic Jian ware you will find the the stone ware will progress (as can be seen in broken kiln mis-fires) from the more purple colored exterior to a lighter grey colored stone ware just inside the purple-red outside, to a darker grey towards the middle of the fired piece. I tried the eliminate most of the shadows in these photos to show the reproduction stoneware not having this effect, but rather an much more solid light grey color throughout the inside on the stoneware. This same type of differing internal colorations on authentically fired artifacts is often seen in Pre-Columbian stone ware also - approaching right at 100% on the pieces that were not intentionally fired to black exteriors.

 




.

In the above two photos we are again at 10X and 30X magnifications on the reproduction bowl. This is a on a point where the glaze meets the stoneware on the outside of the bowl (and usually a high spot on authentic items and as such receives the most wear). There is almost zero wear on this area as there is in all the microscopic photos of the reproduction bowl.

 




.

This the same as above, just on another portion of where the glaze meets the stoneware on the reproduction. Taken at 10X and 30X we can see a minor new chip to the glaze in the center of the second photo at 30X. The difference will become glaring apparent as we get into the authentic bowl. Note, the lack of total wear to the glaze and that the small chip has sharp edges, as a new chip, or scratch, always does, even on old authentic piece.

 




.

The above two photographs were taken at 10X and 30X of the bottom of the inside of the reproduction Hare's Fur bowl. Again notice the lack of wear and the shininess of the glaze. What you see in the upper left corner of these photos is a newer, and not very deep, set of diagonal scratches which were, most likely, the result of the bowls being carried, one inside another, to market. The other reproduction bowl you sent shows the exact type of shininess, lack of authentic wear and minor interior scratches as seen inside the bowl above.

 

 

On the next page we will go on to the microscopic photographs of the authentic bowl.>>>>>>>>>