YUAN DYNASTY, 14TH CENTURY

Details

A Rare Molded Shufu Porcelain Molded Bowl
Yuan dynasty, 14th century
With deep rounded sides rising from the broad foot ring to a slightly everted rim, the sides of the interior molded with two dragons racing amidst clouds below a subtle bowstring band, covered overall with a thick, unctuous glaze of very pale bluish-white tone
7 5/8in. (19.3cm.) diam.
Falk Collection no. 287.

Provenance

Bluett & Sons, London, May 1975.

Lot Essay

The term shufu usually refers to a type of glaze which is slightly more opaque than that of a qingbai glaze and is silky in texture, rather than glassy. The term derives from the characters shu and fu executed in low relief under the glaze found on some wares with this glaze, such as the bowl in the Tokyo National Museum illustrated by T. Mikami, Ceramic Art of the World, Tokyo, 1981, vol. 13 (Liao, Chin and Yuan Dynasties), p. 58, pl. 44, which appears to be very similar to the Falk bowl. It is believed that wares with this mark were intended for use by a Yuan dynasty government department, the Shumiyuan, which is equated with a Privy Council.

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