Note: Stools such as this example were for both indoor and outdoor use in gardens and courtyards. Made in a variety of materials, the shape derived from early Chinese drums which had hide stretched across the top and held in place by nails. Compare a related Fahua stool in the collection of the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 434, pl. 13.33. A similar garden seat, from the collection of Laurance S. Rockefeller, was sold in these rooms, 30th March 2006, lot 71. 

Barrel-shaped porcelain stool with 'fahua' decoration, Ming dynasty, circa 1488-1566. Height: 36 cm Bequeathed by Harvey Hadden, 1931, 1931,0511.2 © 2017 Trustees of the British Museum