A PEAR-SHAPED VASE, HU

During the Yuan Dynasty, production began of white porcelain decorated with underglaze enamel. At first, copper was used for painting, which fired into a red or pink colour, with primarily floral motifs. At that time, vessels were not marked. The body of this vase, turned into a graceful pear shape, is divided horizontally into two wide bands. The lower section is filled with painted linear motifs of peonies, the shorter upper band is divided into three petals with scrolls. A similarly decorated yuhuchunping of the same size, dated Yuan dynasty, ca. first half 14th century, is in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and illustrated by Suzanne G. Valenstein in A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1989 ed., p. 135, no. 131.