3/4 Treasures of Chinese Porcelain

• Treasures of Chinese P...
First broadcast: 11 Oct 2011.
In November 2010, a Chinese vase unearthed in a suburban semi in Pinner sold at auction for £43 million - a new record for a Chinese work of art. Why are Chinese vases so famous and so expensive? The answer lies in the European obsession with Chinese porcelain that began in the 16th century.
In this documentary Lars Tharp, the Antiques Roadshow expert and Chinese ceramics specialist, sets out to explore why Chinese porcelain was so valuable then - and still is now. He goes on a journey to parts of China closed to Western eyes until relatively recently. Lars travels to the mountainside from which virtually every single Chinese export vase, plate and cup began life in the 18th century - a mountain known as Mount Gaolin, from whose name we get the word kaolin, or china clay. He sees how the china clay was fused with another substance, mica, that would turn it into porcelain.

Пікірлер: 62

  • @ps603
    @ps603 Жыл бұрын

    No country has the BEAUTY of Chinese history. Fascinating & so Beautiful.

  • @neweyes777
    @neweyes777 Жыл бұрын

    The Chinese People are so resourceful, disciplined and talented. This makes me smile.

  • @stardresser1
    @stardresser13 жыл бұрын

    Actually found this riveting! I will never look at a dinner plate or cereal bowl the same way AGAIN.

  • @itsMe_TheHerpes
    @itsMe_TheHerpes4 жыл бұрын

    1:45 "what a beautiful color,i came for white porcelain, but i didn't realized i was going to go pink" saying this, while wearing a pink shirt with a pink-crimson backpack 🤣 the seller saw this and of course she suggested pink, it's obvious the guy likes pink, lol.

  • @epasuxelar4473

    @epasuxelar4473

    3 жыл бұрын

    plus his sunburn XD

  • @carpy1252

    @carpy1252

    2 жыл бұрын

    That pink thing is like the last piece I would have bought lmao.

  • @itsMe_TheHerpes

    @itsMe_TheHerpes

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@epasuxelar4473 yes, even his skin is pink 😆

  • @itsMe_TheHerpes

    @itsMe_TheHerpes

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@carpy1252 lol, hello there fellow porcelain and ceramics enthusiasts

  • @kavvayistories
    @kavvayistories4 жыл бұрын

    Best documentary of recent time and new knowledge all together ,thank you ✌️

  • @casst346
    @casst3467 жыл бұрын

    so interesting..thanks for sharing this history!

  • @markies74
    @markies746 жыл бұрын

    WoW! Superb documentary. Learned a lot.

  • @neilchisholm8376
    @neilchisholm83762 жыл бұрын

    Great set of vids. Learnt so much. I so look forward to the next short artistic collection!

  • @thatchacre5763
    @thatchacre57637 жыл бұрын

    The inscription above the gateway shouldn't be translated as the pass of heroes, actually it says "the impregnable pass of Guangdong". The word "雄" does have the meaning of hero when used as a noun, but when it is used to modify a pass or a fortress as an adjective, it means impregnable, impenetrable or simple STRONG.

  • @raquelisla7368

    @raquelisla7368

    3 жыл бұрын

    How amazing explanation!👍🏻👍🏻

  • @clipdump

    @clipdump

    3 жыл бұрын

    amazing. what an awesome language

  • @mariadelvalleherrador6103
    @mariadelvalleherrador61039 жыл бұрын

    mil gracias !!!!

  • @kimberlyperrotis8962
    @kimberlyperrotis8962 Жыл бұрын

    Wonderful video. There is always just so much more to learn about China and its amazing people.

  • @mooseroochy
    @mooseroochy6 жыл бұрын

    the pink goes really well with his head! :-) nice series though, thx!

  • @morganolfursson2560

    @morganolfursson2560

    6 жыл бұрын

    HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA !!!!!

  • @justmeonthebeach
    @justmeonthebeach7 жыл бұрын

    Nice!

  • @russianteahistory
    @russianteahistory3 жыл бұрын

    Love for porcelain knows no limits :0)

  • @thedude5599
    @thedude55995 жыл бұрын

    Props to that guy soaking wet sweating profusely he did no ttkae the easy way out. he grueled that journey props to him

  • @reginarobertsfil-amcouples3735
    @reginarobertsfil-amcouples37353 жыл бұрын

    Strong and brave kudos tho this guy ,.carrying those bags up to the top

  • @eddiealva4453
    @eddiealva44533 жыл бұрын

    Greetings from Lima, Perú. We used to get chinese porcelain in exchange for our Gold and Silver in the route Cerro Rico de Potosí, Port of Callao, Acapulco and Manila, all part of the spanish empire.

  • @Alusnovalotus

    @Alusnovalotus

    3 жыл бұрын

    “Our gold”?! You mean the gold and land stolen from the native peoples of the Spanish empire, of course....

  • @jeromewill6562

    @jeromewill6562

    3 жыл бұрын

    强盗思维

  • @lincolnthinking
    @lincolnthinking5 жыл бұрын

    nice walk ~

  • @acefalcon100
    @acefalcon1003 жыл бұрын

    oh wow they were in keto that time and now i'm more convinced to stay keto

  • @christelklinko7683
    @christelklinko76832 жыл бұрын

    Need to stop the rudeness. If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. Very educational. Thank you

  • @lilianabonasasprea4909
    @lilianabonasasprea49094 жыл бұрын

    podría ser en castellano

  • @stewartbone4236
    @stewartbone42365 жыл бұрын

    Well spotted. Bargaining up is a new strategy. Tried it in Egypt. Just go way up on their price. They give up, assuming you are stupid.

  • @Alusnovalotus

    @Alusnovalotus

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not really. Haggling is pretty much a world wide tradition. Only in Western Europe and ‘Murrrica’ is it considered odd. Otherwise the saleswoman wouldn’t have bargained back. She’d just ask him to leave. Duh.

  • @morganolfursson2560
    @morganolfursson25606 жыл бұрын

    Trying to haggle down the price, after what the Brits did to China, now THAT'S tacky . My mother in law is Japanese , i was spending summer with her last year and took her to the British Museum and then we had tea at Patisserie Valerie. She was wearing one of her most stunning Kimono , an absolute masterpiece made by a Yuzen artist friend of hers in the 70s , it was a deep black with a pattern of pampas grass , momiji leaves changing colours , and crickets as autumn was approaching and she always wear seasonal pattern just a few weeks ahead which is the epitome of chic , and a splendid silver embroidered Obi with a pattern of full moon on it . She was phenomenal and i was extremely proud of walking with her . At Valerie's an old posh lady congratulated her on her outfit and then out of the blue asked her if she could buy it from her . My mother in law, of course, said that because it was a gift from the maker himself , she could never part with it , and that the lady could definitely find something she likes in terms of Kimono if she ever visited Japan and that she (my mother in law) would gladly recommend her where to look and even ask her connections among Kimono makers to take extra care of the lady . But the "lady" wouldn't let go and wouldn't take no for an answer, and told my mother in law to name her price . My mother in law smiled in that Miranda Priestly way and told her with a grin, ok, 20 000 pounds , (thinking that this would dissuade the lady ) . Nope, it didn't, and then the lady dropped the bomb and told my mother in law, "this is Insane , i'll give you 2000 pounds" . I was about to say something but she told me to shut up in Japanese. And then she stood and told the lady , "This is your problem you British people , you sometimes so mistakenly believe you still control half of the planet and that people should grant you things just because you ask for it . I told you that i didn't want to sell it because it was a gift, and you insisted which was already extremely disrespectful of you, then you tell me to name the price which is even more rude, as i don't need the money, and when i finally agreed to sell it to you, you insult me further more by trying to haggle my price, though you are the one who so desperately seem to want my Kimono and told me to name my price. This Kimono is worth a 100 000 pounds because its maker who is no longer alive was named before his passing a living national treasure in Japan , and you assumed i would part with it for 2000 dollars . Why don't you go and ask the curator at the British Museum to sell you a painting and then haggle him down when he finally accepts ? And you wonder why your companies have trouble making deals in Japan and why we have troubles trusting you" . And then mother in law dropped her bomb, saying, "At this point i am far more amused by your attitude than i am annoyed by your arrogance, and before leaving, i'll tell you this , Japan has NEVER been part of the British empire and neither will be my Kimono . Good day . " Two people actually applauded and i was the proudest son in law on earth . I told the old hag , that she had been lucky because i was just about to get angry and also that she was an embarrassment to us Brits. When you are the one wanting to buy something from someone else (even a shop) don't ask for a discount, we don't do it at Harrods so what makes some people believe , they can do it in China or anywhere else ? When i told my very British and very aristocratic grand mother about that story at dinner that evening , she just held my mother in law's hand and said ,"Very well done dear , now will you sell it to me ? And remember the only thing that tops British arrogance is British Humour ,next time don't exhaust yourself and just stab her with a pastry fork" .

  • @gnehzeey

    @gnehzeey

    5 жыл бұрын

    the lady was foolish. she thinks she could buy people's wedding rings from their fingers for bargains!

  • @gnehzeey

    @gnehzeey

    5 жыл бұрын

    money can not buy everything!

  • @dann3410

    @dann3410

    5 жыл бұрын

    Morgan Olfursson good story!

  • @dontatmeevr

    @dontatmeevr

    4 жыл бұрын

    Love this story

  • @escpat

    @escpat

    4 жыл бұрын

    I wish the Japanese woman would not have made not such a big deal of out of the English woman’s proposal and turned this encounter as a racist insult and accusation to all the “You British people” still think you are ruling half of the world rant. The Japanese woman was misleading the other woman by producing an offer. It just so happened that this English woman had the financial means to pay that price, so the Japanese woman’s strategy backfired and got upset by it. Instead of making a stupid joke, why couldn’t she just repeat her answer telling the other woman that the kimono would not be sold under any circumstances. If the other woman still persisted, then she should just tell her that she was bothering her and that would be the end of story. As for Mr. Olfursson, if I were you, I would wonder how your mother in law actually thinks of me in her heart if she has such low opinion on the English people. Yes, the British did a lot of dirty deeds during their Empire heydays but the Japanese were no angels either during the WWII. Enough said.

  • @sunnyoutdoors
    @sunnyoutdoors3 жыл бұрын

    lots of buried ceramics on the bottom of the lake

  • @JesusChristIsLord__
    @JesusChristIsLord__5 жыл бұрын

    1:50 The price she named was 480 but he mistranslated it as 680 and finalized the bargain at 500. He paid more than the price she named lol And she said "bravo" at his "bargaining skills" at the end. lol Did anyone else catch this?? Cringe worthy. And let this go down to posterity what a dishonest woman this was!

  • @gnehzeey

    @gnehzeey

    5 жыл бұрын

    in 100 years the posterity of this man would be selling the vase at Christie's for a 10 thousand times of that! then the story would be "my great grandpa got it in China's porcelain Jingdezhen for bargain price...ha!

  • @richardchung7198

    @richardchung7198

    5 жыл бұрын

    I spotted it too and played it back 5 times to check if I heard wrong. He could have probably bargain it down to Rmb 300-350, from Rmb 480.

  • @anonnymous4864

    @anonnymous4864

    3 жыл бұрын

    It's quite possible the footage clips in that part of the video is not in time sequence. The translator would have corrected the guy if he had heard wrongly. The footage suddenly jumped to the face of the translator with the Chinese sales lady talking out of view. The clip might as well be further down the time sequence with it showing the sales lady finally relented and offering the 480 figure the chap desired.

  • @LaLaLaAllDayLong

    @LaLaLaAllDayLong

    2 жыл бұрын

    He left happy, she left happy. He can afford, it the tv production probably paid for it anyways.

  • @chocolatefaerie
    @chocolatefaerie3 жыл бұрын

    She said 480 first

  • @ellenmcintyre1247
    @ellenmcintyre1247 Жыл бұрын

    The lady that's the consultant here she needs to blink! it's really bothering me...

  • @Thomas-fu8vp
    @Thomas-fu8vp4 жыл бұрын

    Stick stick men

  • @simisimi9
    @simisimi95 жыл бұрын

    His wet shirt si a little odd

  • @sissyrayself7508
    @sissyrayself75084 жыл бұрын

    Oh yes, choose that pink, round and fat one, it matches your face perfectly.

  • @sheffield4911
    @sheffield4911 Жыл бұрын

    Ripe off

  • @goyomansano3222
    @goyomansano32228 жыл бұрын

    Why does he insist on wearing that stupid backpack everywhere? Is he afraid the potters will steal his cellphone, or something?

  • @morganolfursson2560
    @morganolfursson25605 жыл бұрын

    Why aren't you honest and say that the best pieces were stolen from China . Also you need to explain where the word porcelain comes from and therefore talk about Marco Polo who was the first to introduce porcelain to Europe thanks to trade with arabs and not at all with China . You need to also explain that the word porcelain(not China) is italian in origin, coming from the word porccelino , which means little pig, but in that case is the name of a seashell as the Italians who first saw porcelain thought that it looked and felt like the seashell they call Porccelino di mare , or Little pig from the sea . You also forget to mention that the blue and white design is not Chinese at all but Arabic as the pigment chinese used was imported from Iran where it had been used for centuries and even the Chinese referred to it as Muhammad Blue . You don't even talk about why Porcelain from Jingdezhen became popular during the Sung dynasty rather than celadon , which was WAY more favored by th Ming's emperors . You are deliberately forgetting A LOT of facts in your documentary . Making it about England and Europe when actually , Europe was the last market to ever discover porcelain, Arabs (well of of the middle east, even Egyptians) , Indians, Japaneses, Koreans, all knew Chinese porcelain long before europe discovered it . and if it wasn't for the Italians, the Brits would have never found out about it . Dam,n if you are going to make a documentary, do your freaking homework . England or Britain is the smallest market of porcelain and was for centuries, the chinese couldn't give less of a damn about that small island .

  • @sissyrayself7508

    @sissyrayself7508

    4 жыл бұрын

    This IS an English Documentary made for an English/ British audience talking about Britain's involvement in the process. If you want to hi light another culture then by all means, get busy and produce your OWN. Your whining and virtue signaling is tiresome. Do go away trollie, troll, troll.

  • @dianebrady6784

    @dianebrady6784

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@sissyrayself7508 Stop being such a Karen!!!!

  • @MrBlinder514

    @MrBlinder514

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@sissyrayself7508 Oh, then don't put on KZread which is not restricted to British audience. What's wrong with highlighting another culture?! Is it because it's really beyond your comprehension?

  • @MirrorscapeDC

    @MirrorscapeDC

    4 жыл бұрын

    @@MrBlinder514 nothing is wrong with highlighting a different culture, but there is also nothing wrong with highlighting your own history. the people who made the documentary wanted to make it about an aspect of British history and that is fine. and why are you complaining about it being on youtube? do you want to only ever be able to see documentaries about your own countries history? sounds boring.

  • @tamaracarter1836

    @tamaracarter1836

    3 жыл бұрын

    ​@@sissyrayself7508 Absolutely right! But judging from his others comments, it seems to me that he has some sort of a complex against Europe...