A GOOD SHUFU-TYPE MOLDED BOWL, China, Yuan dynasty - Provenance: Old French private collection, sold Nagel 2.11.2013, Lot 315 and sold to the present owner, private collection Rhineland - The term shufu usually refers to a type of glaze which is slightly more opaque than that of a qingbai glaze and is silky in texture, rather than glassy. The term derives from the characters shu and fu executed in low relief under the glaze found on some wares with this glaze. It is believed that wares with this mark were intended for use by a Yuan dynasty government department, the Shumiyuan, which is equated with a Privy Council. Compare the similarly decorated Shufu bowl of this shape, also dated Yuan dynasty, illustrated in Porcelain Collected by Anhui Province Museum, Beijing, 2002, p. 113, pl. 95 - Small chip to stand with few fine hairlines to stand