INV035 A rare blue and white peacock bowl with Chenghua reign mark Ming 15thCent

Description

Dimension: 18.5cm Diameter, 8.9 cm Height
Provenance: Acquired from an advanced local collector.
Description:
This wonderful well potted large bowl is finely made stemmed from a straight foot and raise gently to a flared mouth rim painted in grayish blue cobalt of peacocks and peahens among a landscape of rocks, peonies, chrysanthemums and lotus strays and Taoism symbols at each of the bird, in the deep center well a sprouting peony in a double circle which is continuous with little indication of the lifting of the brush the two rings were drawn, glazed overall with thin even transparent light bluish glaze on a thin semi-translucent body except the foot rim, the foot base with six character ‘da ming cheng hua nian chi’ in a double ring of Chenghua reign 15
th
century Ming dynasty.
The painting of the birds signifies nobility and grace, surrounded with everything auspicious on a solid rockwork spaced among each bird. The cobalt used in the painting has a grayish tint with ‘heap-and-pile’ effect indicating a popular belief local cobalt called ‘pitang’ was used mixed with  imported Persian cobalt. The body of the paste has a pinkish hue when hit with a strong white light and upon closed up showed a fine compact paste with very little impurities.
When gently tapped at the mouth rim, the bowl gives a deep resonance indicating high kiln firing make, the overall is light and its smooth unctuous glaze and overall potting gives this piece a satisfaction of a remarkable 15
th
century piece ever so rare.