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Lot Essay
The term fahua, meaning “designs with borders,” was coined by collectors in the 1920s. Fine relief lines of clay slip were applied to the surface of the ceramic to delineate the design and create bounded areas for the application of relatively low-firing alkaline glazes in multiple colors.
The technique originated in the Yuan dynasty in Shanxi province, and by the Yongle period, production had shifted to southern Shanxi. In the early 15th century, Jingdezhen kilns began producing more refined, high-fired fahua wares (see R. Scott and R. Kerr, Ceramic Evolution of the Middle Ming Period, London, 1994, p. 11).
The palette on the present jar; deep cobalt blue, brilliant white, green, purple, and yellow, became a popular combination on late 15th- and early 16th-century fahua porcelains. On most 15th-century examples, cobalt blue served as the ground, as on the present jar, though a few vessels employed turquoise. The thin copper-green glaze on the interior is typical of many closed-form fahua vessels. The jar’s broad, rounded shoulders, tapering sides, and slightly compressed profile reflect a shape that gained popularity during the Chenghua reign.
Two jars with the same “birds in lotus pond” decoration are published: one from the Salting Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 158; the other in Mayuyama Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, fig. 816. A related jar with lotus lappets on the shoulder in the Matsuoka Museum of Art is illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, pl. 61, and again by R. Fujioka and G. Hasebe, Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Ming, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1976, p. 135, no. 136. Compare the same design, without the egrets, on a meiping vase sold at Christie’s New York, 30 May 2005, lot 1452, and a larger jar (40.5 cm high) with the same design from the Rockefeller Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1420.
The motif of egrets wading among lotus persisted into the Qing dynasty and inspired archaistic designs. In this symbolism, egrets (lu) serve as a homonym for “a path,” alluding to progress and achievement; when paired with flowering lotus, they form the rebus Yilu lianke; “May you achieve success in examinations”, expressing the wish for official advancement.
The technique originated in the Yuan dynasty in Shanxi province, and by the Yongle period, production had shifted to southern Shanxi. In the early 15th century, Jingdezhen kilns began producing more refined, high-fired fahua wares (see R. Scott and R. Kerr, Ceramic Evolution of the Middle Ming Period, London, 1994, p. 11).
The palette on the present jar; deep cobalt blue, brilliant white, green, purple, and yellow, became a popular combination on late 15th- and early 16th-century fahua porcelains. On most 15th-century examples, cobalt blue served as the ground, as on the present jar, though a few vessels employed turquoise. The thin copper-green glaze on the interior is typical of many closed-form fahua vessels. The jar’s broad, rounded shoulders, tapering sides, and slightly compressed profile reflect a shape that gained popularity during the Chenghua reign.
Two jars with the same “birds in lotus pond” decoration are published: one from the Salting Bequest at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, illustrated by J. Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, no. 158; the other in Mayuyama Seventy Years, vol. 1, Tokyo, 1976, fig. 816. A related jar with lotus lappets on the shoulder in the Matsuoka Museum of Art is illustrated in Selected Masterpieces of Oriental Ceramics, pl. 61, and again by R. Fujioka and G. Hasebe, Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, Ming, Shogakukan, Tokyo, 1976, p. 135, no. 136. Compare the same design, without the egrets, on a meiping vase sold at Christie’s New York, 30 May 2005, lot 1452, and a larger jar (40.5 cm high) with the same design from the Rockefeller Collection, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 November 2005, lot 1420.
The motif of egrets wading among lotus persisted into the Qing dynasty and inspired archaistic designs. In this symbolism, egrets (lu) serve as a homonym for “a path,” alluding to progress and achievement; when paired with flowering lotus, they form the rebus Yilu lianke; “May you achieve success in examinations”, expressing the wish for official advancement.