Events 2026
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Updates :
Website Update Schedule 2026 :
Please note, these dates are guidelines.
Occasionally dates might have to be changed.
……………………………………..
September 2026.
1) Kakiemon Porcelain : Updated 17/09/2026.
2) A Single Object : Updated 22/09/26
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October 2026.
1) A mixture of ceramics.
2) To Be Decided.
……………………………………..
November 2026.
……………………………………..
December 2026.
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ROBERT McPHERSON ANTIQUES – Established in 1980.
Postal Address :
Robert McPherson Antiques
4th Floor, Silverstream House
45 Fitzroy Street,
London
W1T 6EB
England.
Contact : rmcpherson@orientalceramics.com
Recently Published Reference Books :
Following the Dragon, Late Ming Porcelain from James Fort, Jamestown, Virginia.
By Merry Abbitt Outlaw.
ISBN 979-8-9866610-1-8.
Published November 2025.
By Merry Abbitt Outlaw.
ISBN 979-8-9866610-1-8.
Published November 2025.
“In Following the Dragon, Merry Outlaw beautifully illustrates and expertly identifies the Chinese origins of porcelain uncovered at early seventeenth-century Jamestown, Virginia, offering a compelling window into the vast trade networks that made fine Chinese porcelain a coveted status symbol in the Western world.”
– Dr. William M. Kelso, CBE, FSA, SAR
“In the early seventeenth century, Chinese porcelain went all over the world, becoming what some scholars have called the first ‘global brand’. No better example of this is the number and variety of pieces that made it to Jamestown, a tiny settlement perched precariously on what was, to a European perspective, the edge of the known world. This book beautifully explores this rich collection, giving us a better understanding of Chinese porcelain’s range and reach and of the material world of Jamestown’s earliest settlers.”
– Ronald Fuchs, Editor, Ceramics in America
About the Author
Merry Abbitt Outlaw, Senior Curator at Jamestown Rediscovery, has over fifty years of experience in the research and care of archaeological materials. A specialist in ceramics from the colonial period of English America, she has published widely in Ceramics in America, where she also served as editor of “New Discoveries.” Outlaw is a member of the American Ceramic Circle, the English Ceramic Circle, and the Oriental Ceramic Society.
Four Centuries of Blue and White
This beautifully illustrated and scholarly book presents the Frelinghuysen collection of Chinese and Japanese export porcelain. It is the first major publication to consider Chinese and Japanese blue and white together.
This extraordinary collection, assembled carefully over fifty years, features an exceptionally wide array of Asian blue and white porcelain – that most ubiquitous and influential of all ceramics. Ranging from Chinese pieces specially made for Portuguese traders in the 16th century to late 19th century commissions for the Thai royal court, the collection also includes numerous Chinese classics from the era of the European trading companies and a notable selection of Japanese export porcelain. In its vast scope it speaks of the diverse impulses and historical forces that propelled the trade in Asian porcelain and provides a lens through which to view the interaction of East and West from the early modern age to the dawn of the 20th century.
More than 300 pieces from the collection are illustrated and discussed in full and another 250 are illustrated in a compendium, all divided into thematic chapters that reflect the many ways Chinese and Japanese porcelain has been traded, collected and lived with around the world. Essays by William R. Sargent, former Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, and noted armorial porcelain authority Angela Howard, precede the thirteen chapters, which include Faith, Identity, For the Table, To European Design and Made in Japan. Great rarities are featured alongside small, amusing pieces and the many export porcelains made to elevate the practices of daily life.
With its strict adherence to blue and white porcelain, the collection intensifies our focus on forms, patterns and designs, gathering together wares that are often considered only separately for study while also covering areas of little recent scholarship, such as the Thai market material. The specialized reader will find references to the latest research while the more general reader will appreciate a comprehensive overview of Asian export porcelain. There has not been a significant survey of either Chinese or Japanese blue and white since the 1990s, and they have never been considered together in a major publication.
One of of number of pieces illustrated in this book that come from Robert McPherson Antiques :
A rare Kangxi blue and white porcelain ‘ship’ dish c.1690-1720. This large Kangxi dish depicts a Western sailing ship, perhaps a V.O.C. (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie) trading vessel off the Chinese coast. This early depiction of Western ship is unusual in that the center of the dish is devoted entirely to one ship. Earlier depictions, such as those from the ‘Swatow’ kilns in Fujian, show European trading vessels as part of a complex design. Clearly this depiction is for a Westerner connected with trade in China and although rare they do occasionally show up in Dutch collections (see references). The border is of fish among aquatic plants and boys among scrolling lotus, the base has a ‘fu’ (happiness) mark.
Condition : In good condition, there are several rim shallow chips mainly confined to the back rim. Approximately 1/3 of the rim has been very lightly polished, it is very difficult to see but we have photographed it. Some fritting.
- Size : Diameter : 26.5 cm (10 1/2 inches)
- Sold Archive Number ; 25205
- References : Two Kangxi porcelain ship dishes of this design are in the Shanghai Museum, they are illustrated in : Traces of Trade, Chinese Export Porcelain Donated by Henk B. Niewenhuys (various authors, 2009. ISBN 978-7-80725-790-5) Items 92 and 93, illustrated on the front cover and pages 192-195.