HONGZHI PERIOD (1488-1505)

The term fahua, which translates to ‘designs with borders,’ was coined by collectors in the 1920s. Fine relief lines of clay slip were applied to the surface of the ceramic item and these lines served as outlines to the design and also created bounded areas in which to apply relatively low-firing alkaline glazes of different colors.

The technique was first produced during the Yuan dynasty in Shanxi province, but by the Yongle period, they were made in southern Shanxi province. In the early 15^th century, porcelain kilns in Jingdezhen started to manufacture much more refined, high-fired fahua vessels (see R. Scott and R. Kerr, Ceramic Evolution of the Middle Ming Period, London, 1994, p. 11).

The palette used on the current jar of deep cobalt blue, vivid copper turquoise, brilliant white and yellow was to become the most popular color combination on fahua porcelains of the late 15^th and early 16^th century. On the majority of 15^th century fahua vessels, cobalt blue was used as the ground color, as is seen on the current jar, while on a small number of vessels, turquoise was used as the ground color. The use of a thin copper green glaze on the interior of the current jar is common to many closed-form fahua porcelain vessels. It is also worth noting that the shape of the current jar with its broad, rounded shoulders, tapering sides and slightly compressed profile was one that rose in popularity in the Chenghua reign.

A fahua jar with similar decoration of peacocks and flowering peonies, but of slightly smaller size (37 cm.) with slightly more tapered form is in the Baur Collection, CB.CC.1949.151, and is dated to the 16^th century. On the Bauer jar, the shoulder is decorated with a border of beads suspending Buddhist emblems, while the current jar is decorated with a band of ruyi enclosing stylized florets. Another fahua jar decorated with peacocks which is identical to the Baur jar, is in the collection of The British Museum, and is illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall in Catalogue of Late Yuan Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, 13:23.

A Hongzhi period (1488-1505) fahua jar of similar decoration and slightly smaller size (35 cm.) is in the Percival David Foundation, illustrated in ibid., p. 25, no. 35. (Fig. 1), where the author cites “The richness of 16^th century fahua decoration on porcelain, and its stylistic development, are glimpsed in the precision and fluency of shape an design in this jar” (p. 12). The shaped cloud-collar design around the shoulder of both the Percival David jar and the present jar is a motif that was very popular in the Hongzhi period, and is found on dated porcelains from this period, such as a blue and white temple jade dating to the 9^th year of Hongzhi, corresponding to AD 1496. See R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration: Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 66, no. 64.