DIA190xH120mm, China
You have probably seen a larger version of this in a Chinese garden before, a stool for sitting on for the ladies. It is called a Gu Dun, the word “Gu” means drum and as you can see the top of this pottery has decoration resembling a piece of leather held taut like a drum. The Gu Dun was originally made in wood and later also made with pottery, porcelain, stone and lacquer. You can see in the Sung painting below that it is already a popular chair at that time and the most recent design is perhaps Philip Starck’s Bonze Stool.
The one featured in the post today is a miniature decoration piece which is made in the form of a Gu Dun.
Mountain Folkcraft 