As the market for Chinese art has increased dramatically in recent years, so too has the number of Chinese ceramic “fakes”. Pieces made to look like Ming and Qing wares can realise $100,000 or more if successful in fooling the dealers, auction houses and end-customers. The making of fakes goes back to the Qing period (1644-1911) when potters were creating so-called "houmenzao" or back-door copies of Ming masterpieces.
Although this is not a new phenomena, it is increasingly becoming a more global market as China has opened up its trading policies in the past few years. And whilst Chinese ceramics prices are booming, this is only encouraging counterfeits to produce these goods whilst hurting consumer confidence.
