The Patina Journal

The Patina Journal

Object Studies

Chawan: a Black Raku tea bowl, hand-molded earthenware with an opaque black glaze, early 17th century

Chawan: How to Read a Japanese Tea Bowl Before You Buy

Asian · Japanese

Japanese lacquerware: an eight-lobed incense box decorated with Chinese children playing with snowballs in gold maki-e

Japanese Lacquerware: How to Read a Maki-e Box Before You Buy

Asian · Japanese

Satsuma ware incense burner: a cream, crackle-glazed round burner on three feet, with a domed openwork lid and a band of pierced lattice around the body

Satsuma Ware: Japanese Earthenware, Crackle Glaze and How to Read It

Asian · Japanese

Kutani ware plate: round dark green plate painted with overlapping fans, one section in gold and yellow, with a ribbed rim

Kutani Ware: Ko-Kutani, the Five Colors and the Arita Question

Asian · Japanese

Imari ware: large round dish with a dark blue rim studded with gilt and red medallions, and white panels painted with pine, plum blossom, red cloud bands and a wave

Imari Ware: How to Identify Japanese Imari Porcelain

Asian · Japanese

Antique Japanese porcelain plate painted mainly in blue and white, with a figure under a parasol at the center and a border of small panels and a fine pattern

Antique Japanese Porcelain: How to Tell Imari, Kakiemon and Nabeshima

Asian · Japanese

Antique chest of drawers in mahogany by John Townsend, 1765: a blockfront with three carved shells across the top and four tiers of drawers with brass handles on bracket feet

Antique Chest of Drawers: How to Identify and Date One

More in Object Studies

Red-and-gold japanned secretary cabinet of about 1735 with both upper doors open to show rows of small decorated drawers, and the writing front lowered to reveal pigeonholes and tiny drawers above three long drawers; a secretary desk shown open

What Is a Secretary Desk? Types, History and How to Identify One

Ivory-and-gold Herter Brothers cabinet of about 1883, an antique display cabinet with a glazed center, a glazed compartment above and open shelves at each end, the interiors lined in deep red and set with small vessels

Antique Display Cabinets: History, Vitrines and What to Look For

What is a credenza? An Italian example of 1440-50, a long walnut cabinet on a plinth, its front divided into three pairs of doors carved with rose-window forms above rows of pointed lancets and square panels of geometric inlay

What Is a Credenza? Meaning, Origin and Renaissance Examples

Bow-fronted mahogany sideboard on slender tapered legs with inlaid oval panels and a curved box on top, photographed in a period room

What Is a Sideboard? A History of the Form and How to Read an Antique One

Tapering mahogany cabinet in the form of an Egyptian gateway, one door open to show rows of small drawers with silver mounts and a silver winged disk below the cornice

French Empire Style Furniture: Forms, Mounts and How to Recognize It

Gilded carved console table with a shaped dark red marble top, a gilt mask at the centre of the frieze, S-shaped legs topped with carved dragons and a stretcher with a helmet at the centre

Antique French Console Table: Periods, Carving and What to Check

Gilt-bronze wall light shaped like a bunch of lilies tied with a ribbon bow, with three candle cups at the tips of the flower stems

Antique Wall Sconces: Girandoles, Candle Brackets and How to Read Them

Japanese folding screen of six gold-leaf panels showing colorful kimonos draped over a dark lacquered clothing rack, with a lacquer box and a stand on the floor

Japanese Folding Screens (Byobu): History, Types and What They Were For

Asian · Japanese

Tall Dutch cabinet on a stand, its two doors covered in marquetry bouquets of flowers in many colored woods against a dark ground

Marquetry and Parquetry: How Wood Was Made to Decorate Furniture