RARE Antique Qing Dynasty 18th Century Chinese Cloisonne Wash Basin Bowl 21\"

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RARE Antique Qing Dynasty 18th Century Chinese Cloisonne Wash Basin Bowl 21\":
$3000.00

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ORIGINAL Qing Dynasty, 18th Century Rare Large Bowl, extra large wash basin Asian Art Qing (Ch\'ing) Dynasty, Cloisonne EnamelSee photos up close, there are a few small edge places that have been filled (long ago before we purchased)some cracks and a little piece missing, overall this antique Cloisonne is in good condition.Measures: 21 1/4\"W x 4\"H Monumental polychrome wash basin with finely articulated Foo dogs to the interior bowl over a cloisonne blue and cobalt blue diaper pattern of petal flowers, stylized floral and cloud scroll patterning to base. Foo dogs - Guardian Lions and flowing ribbons. Top trim pattern around edge shaped almost like deer horns. This item was purchased at the iconic Aha Louie Store in San Luis Obispo, below is some the historical reference:

Chinese pioneer Ah Louis founded his store in 1874 to serve as a grocery and general merchandise store, employment office, bank, post office, and pharmacy for the Chinese population of San Luis Obispo. Twelve years later, the original wooden building was replaced by the present structure, and the local newspaper reported: \"The new brick building of Ah Louis...is an ornament to that part of the city, as it would be to any part, and shows the proprietor to be an enterprising, competent business man. The building is...two stories in height, the front stuccoed and having an iron-railed piazza over the Palm Street front. The main room on the lower floor is designed and furnished with shelving, draws [drawers], counters, etc. for a store; another good-sized room for storage of goods; another for a private room and office; and a hallway....The upstairs is divided into six rooms for sleeping apartments.\"

Among the foods stocked were rice, peanut oil, sugar cane,hom don(salted duck eggs),hoy tom(sea cucumber),lop op(dried duck),hom yee(salted fish), dried abalone, oysters, canned fish, andleong fun(a cooling dessert). The walls of the store were lined with 72 drawers containing Chinese herbal remedies, which Ah Louis dispensed after taking the customer\'s pulse to help determine the affliction and its treatment.

The brick store has been in continuous operation since 1886, first by Ah Louis, then by his son Howard.

Ah Louis (1840-1936)

Ah Louis (Chinese name Wong On) was the best known of the Chinese merchants in San Luis Obispo\'s Chinatown, and acted as its unofficial mayor, postmaster, and banker from the 1870s on. He was born in a small village of southern China\'s Pearl River Delta, in 1840. Like so many others from this area near Canton, he emigrated to the land the Chinese called \"Gold Mountain.\" His family put up the money for his ticket, and he landed in San Francisco in 1861. His early days on the West coast were spent in prospecting for gold in Oregon, and in taking whatever other work he could find.

Arrival in San Luis Obispo

Sometime around 1870, he arrived in San Luis Obispo, where he found the climate helpful for his asthma. Years later, he recalled, \"When I first came to San Luis, I worked in the French Hotel as a cook; it stood on the corner across from the mission....After that, I was the foreman and employment agent of all the Chinese who were working on the Pacific Coast Railroad. The P.C. [railroad] first extended to Port Harford, now known as Port San Luis, and later to Santa Maria and Los Olivos….

\"After that I had charge of the Chinese miners who were working in the quicksilver mines near Cambria. After that, an American man and I became partners; we owned the first brickyard in San Luis.\"

From his store at the corner of Palm and Chorro Streets, Ah Louis presided over San Luis\'s Chinatown in the 800 block of Palm Street, which consisted of a number of stores, several restaurants, a \"joss house\" (Chinese temple), and various boarding houses for the Chinese laborers when they were between jobs. As the late Young Louis, his oldest son, described it: \"On any given day, there were gold, chrome, and quicksilver miners, farmers, brickmakers, hotel employees, laundrymen, men from the coast, fishermen, kelp processors, men from the abalone industry, [and] the railroad workers, who came in for supplies and relaxation.\"

The fourth Louis child, the late Walter Louis, recalled that \"Any Chinese who came to town would make himself known [to Ah Louis]. If they needed a meal or a helping hand, Dad made the offer.\"

Ah Louis loaned money, often on very favorable terms, and he acted as a banker for whites as well as Chinese. He never needed to write down the amounts of these transactions--all the ledgers were kept in his head. When loaning money, Ah Louis seldom required a written contract; a verbal promise and a handshake were sufficient.

In 1933, at the age of 93, Ah Louis decided it was time for him to observe his native tradition of going home to China to die. Because he didn\'t plan to return to the U.S., he did not take with him the required re-entry documents. Within months, he was missing his family and friends, and he decided to return to the U.S. However, since he didn\'t have the requisite papers, he was detained at the Immigration Center on Angel Island for three days, while U.S. Customs and Immigration authorities investigated his background.

The Ah Louis Store (continued)

The Ah Louis Family

Ah Louis and his wife Eng Gon Ying (1869-1909), whom he married in 1889, were the parents of eight children, all born in the family\'s living quarters above the store. The youngest child, Howard, still owns the store today. Thus, just two generations of this remarkable family span California\'s history from the days of the gold miners, through the construction of the railroads and the years of the Chinese Exclusion acts, and on up to the present.

Howard and Yvonne Louis

Howard Louis, the youngest Louis child, was born in a room above the store in 1908. He grew up helping around the store and on his father\'s seed and vegetable farms. In high school, he found time to excel in football, wrestling, and track. Howard went on to study economics and transportation at the University of California/Berkeley, and married Yvonne Sam of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The War Years

During World War II, Howard served in the 354th Infantry Regiment with the 89th Infantry Division (known as the \"Rolling W\"). At 32 years of age in 1941, he was the oldest in his regiment, but he could still outrun the 18-year-olds, due to his days of running track in San Luis Obispo. In the infantry, everything had to be carried in packs on the back, so Howard was glad of the muscles he had developed by hoisting 50-pound-bags of rice in his father\'s store.

Chinese guardian lions or Imperial guardian lions, known in Chinese as shí shī (Chinese: 石獅; pinyin: shíshī; literally: \"stone lion\"), and often called \"Foo Dogs\" in the West, are a common representation of the lion in imperial China.

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RARE Antique Qing Dynasty 18th Century Chinese Cloisonne Wash Basin Bowl 21\":
$3000.00