A Large Chinese Fahua Turquoise Ground Baluster Jar, Ming Dynasty

Object Description

Of shouldered baluster form, finely decorated in purple, ochre and turquoise enamels within unglazed and tube-lined borders to accentuate the design with three scenes of a Chinese scholars journey through a mountainous landscape; riding a pony, his attendant walking behind, leading a horse, his boy carrying a stacking picnic basket and water ewer and the sage at rest, drinking a cup of banjo and contemplating a potted bonsai tree, within a grove of pine trees, ruyi-head cloud swirls between a lotus-lappet band, the neck decorated with cloud clusters, the shoulder with an ornate foliate-ruyi pendant band, reserved on a bright turquoise ground, the interior and base with a complimentary translucent green glaze.

Object History

Anthony Du Boulay Collection

Object Literature

‘Fahua’ its literal meaning: ‘regulated decoration’ are brightly coloured stonewares and porcelains produced in China in the mid to late Ming dynasty at a variety of kiln sites in Shanxi province, Pinging (modern day Linfen) and in Jingdezheng in Southern China.
The colours were particularly popular with connoisseurs of Chinese porcelain in the early 20th century and notable examples can be seen at the British Museum and Ascott House, Leighton Buzzard, the former home of Anthony de Rothschild (1887-1961), given to the National Trust in 1949.

Object Details