A rare pierced 'Fahua' meiping

Description:

China, Ming Dynasty
H. 30,2 cm
The slender body is beautifully finished and openwork decorated with a central band of peacocks amidst a peony scroll, between a band of leaf lobes below and a band of leaf scrolls above, all in pale türkis, yellow and cream in contrast to the dark bläulich purple ground.
Sotheby's New York, 17.9.2008, lot 247 with provenance Parke Bernet Galleries, New York acquired from the present owner (copy of transport invoice preserved)
In openwork Fahua meiping of this type are quite rare, especially with the unusual pea and peony decoration of the present vase. Two Fahua meiping of äsimilar form, both carved in openwork with a scene of figures in a landscape, are published: 1. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, pp. 413-4, no. 13:9; the other in Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Musée Guimet, Paris, 1981, plate 75 - Restored breaks in the upper part of the vase