Interested in buying Asian art but don’t know where to begin? In this video, Asian art expert John Axford talks to the-saleroom.com about what to look for and what to avoid when buying Asian art at auction. John Axford is considered one of the top Asian art specialists in the auction world. He is the Deputy Chairman of Woolley & Wallis Salerooms in Salisbury, and the Director responsible for Asian Art. Since 1999, he has been a member of the Antiques Roadshow team of experts. To find out more about Woolley & Wallis, click here: http://bit.ly/1MBbgsv In the video John talks about uses a number of items to demonstrate his points. Here are the items along with his words: FINE CHINESE IMPERIAL WHITE JADE PLAQUE Qianlong 1736-95, Estimate: £8,000 - 12,000 This is a great little piece of 19th century Chinese jade. It is beautifully carved. We have two phoenix confronting each other, the symbol of the Chinese empress. Importantly the stone is flawless, it has great translucency. CHINESE WHITE JADE BELT BUCKLE, Quinlong/Jiaqing, Estimate: £600-1,000 This little piece here is a belt buckle. It is also 18th century, it is also a great colour, however whenever you buy at auction, particularly jades and porcelains, get a condition report. Part of the buckle is missing, it has been ground off very cleverly, so it is incomplete and worth a fraction of the first one. CHINESE JADE PENDANT 19th/20th Century Estimate: £50 - 70 This plaque here is the whitest of them all. The problem is it is not old. It looks like an 18th century plaque but it is a modern plaque. The carving is different, the finish is different. Make sure when you buy at auction you get the auctioneer to date the piece, and if not, find out why, it may be because they don't know or it's brand new. Interested in Chinese jade? Click here to see all Chinese jade available on the-saleroom.com: http://bit.ly/1X7l3eR CHINESE POTTERY MODEL OF A HORSE'S TORSO Han Dynasty 296 BC - 220AD, Estimate: £500 - £1,000 This pottery horse is over 2,000 years old. It dates from the Han Dynasty in China which was 296 BC - 220 AD. It is amazing, these are some of the best value things to buy at auction. A horse like this, 2,000 years old, is only going to be £500 - 600. It is a burial piece, it has been in the ground for all of this time and it's been taken out when the railways were built, the roads were built, tombs were discovered, this has come out of one of those. The reason these are so reasonable in auction is the Chinese don't buy burial goods, they consider it bad luck. Fabulous horses, camels and other tomb figures exist and they are very very good value. Interested in art from the Han Dynasty? Click here to see all Han Dynasty pieces available on the-saleroom.com: http://bit.ly/1H8kX4P RARE CHINESE DOUCAI DRAGON BOWL Six character Kangxi mark and of the period 1662-1722 Estimate: £6,000-8,000 This is a great bowl. It dates from the Kangxi period, which is 1662-1722. Its beautifully painted with dragons, inside and out, and it has a 6 character Imperial reign mark on the base. But, it is an example of why you need to ask for condition reports. The restoration on this bowl is really high quality. There are two sections of the rim that have been put back in. If this was perfect it might be £80,000, but it's got some restoration so it is maybe worth £6,000 - £8,000. It's still a lot of money, but it's much more affordable. Interested in Doucai porcelain? Click here to see all the Doucai available on the-saleroom.com: http://bit.ly/1MUEqly PAIR OF CHINESE FAMILLE VERTE MODELS OF PARROTS Kangxi 1662-1722, Estimate: £4,000 - 6,000 These wonderful parrots are 300 years old, but they were not made for the imperial court. They were made in Jingdezhen in central China and shipped all the way over to Europe, where they were used to decorate one of the European palaces or great houses. There these ormolu mounts were put on. These were probably put on in the 19th Century in Paris. They are fabulous things, they are wonderfully decorative. Compared with Chinese Imperial porcelains of the same date, these parrots made for export are pretty inexpensive. They are a few thousand pounds, not tens of thousands of pounds. Interested in Famille Verte porcelain? Click here to see all the Famille Verte available on the-saleroom.com: http://bit.ly/1H8kdwE If you are interested in Asian art, have a look at our website where you will find details of all the lots coming up: http://bit.ly/1QMl73U All prices used in this programme are current as of November 2015