A RARE MING FAHUA RETICULATED GARDEN SEAT

Details

A RARE MING FAHUA RETICULATED GARDEN SEAT
15TH CENTURY

Of hollow barrel form, molded and pierced with a wide central band of pairs of confronted phoenix and ruyi-form clouds against a ground of net-pattern reticulation interrupted by a pair of taotie mask handles, dividing upper and lower bands of cloud clusters and waves, each studded with a row of bosses, the rounded top with a central flowerhead surrounded by four lotus leaves, all picked out in well-preserved, dark purplish-blue, turquoise, pale aubergine, amber and green glazes
13 3/4in. (34.9cm.) high

Lot Essay

It is unusual to find a reticulated fahua garden seat, although a pair carved and pierced with Buddhistic lions was sold in London, June 10, 1974, lot 115. A similar garden seat in the Percival David Foundation, London, which is more simply decorated around the unpierced sides with Buddhistic lions and cash, dated to the Hongzhi period, was included in the exhibition, Ceramic Evolution in the Middle Ming Period, Hongzhi to Wanli (1488-1620), September 8-February 7, 1995, illustrated by Rosemary Scott and Rose Kerr in the Catalogue, p. 25, no. 32, where the authors discuss the characteristics of both northern and southern production of fahua ware during the Yuan and Ming periods, pp. 11 and 12