Page 34 - Bonhams Fine Chinese Art Nov 2013 London

Various Owners 各方藏家

27 The form of the ‘barrel-seat’ derives from early Chinese drums made
A fine Fahua barrel-shaped garden seat from skins stretched over the top and held in places with nails,
16th century giving rise to the characteristic moulded bosses seen on porcelain
Sturdily moulded and pierced on the side with a wide band enclosing examples of this form. Compare a related barrel-shaped fahua
two pairs of Buddhistic lions amidst dense leafy peony scrolls, reticulated seat, Chenghua, illustrated in The Complete Collection
divided by two raised monster masks between two rows of high-relief of Treasures of the Palace Museum: Miscellaneous Enamelled
bosses, the slightly domed top with a pierced central flowerhead Porcelains Plain Tricoloured Porcelains, Beijing, 2009, pl.230. See
encircled by four lotus leaves at the rim, all in rich purplish blue, also an example of a related fahua garden seat, showing very similar
turquoise, cream and ochre. flowerhead and lotus leaves on the top and dated to the Hongzhi
36cm (14 1/5in) high - Jiajing periods (1488-1566), is illustrated by J.Harrison-Hall,
£30,000 - 35,000 Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no.13:33.
HK$370,000 - 440,000 CNY290,000 - 340,000 However the present lot is particularly unusual for the complexity
十六世紀 法華釉鏤空獅紋鼓釘繡墩 of its manufacture, with a reticulated-leaf ground for the Buddhist
lions. A related example of Fahua porcelain with reticulated leaves is
illustrated ibid., no.13:19.

32 | Bonhams