Lot Essay
The companion jar and cover from the J. M. Hu Family Collection, sold in New York, 4 June 1985, lot 16, is now in the Collection of the Tianminlou Foundation, illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S. C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, vol. I, pl. 35, together with a panoramic view of the sixteen small boys. The jar and cover was also included in the Min Chiu Society 30th Anniversary Exhibition and illustrated in Selected Treasures of Chinese Art, pl. 136.
The 'boys' theme was popular in Southern Song paintings particularly those of small children at play by the Academic painter, Su Hanchen (active early 12th Century). The imagery was particularly pertinent in later periods since it was good augury for the emperor to produce male heirs.
It is very rare to find a jar of this design complete with its cover. One excavated in 1980 in Chaoyangqu, Beijing and now in the Shoudu (Capital) Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zangci Xuan, pl. 121; another sold in Hong Kong, 13 November 1990, lot 142 is now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art; and another from the Collection of Charles Russell and of Mrs. Alfred Clark, sold in London, 6 June 1935, lot 97, is now in the British Museum, illustrated by Lion-Goldschmidt and Moreau-Gobard, Chinese Art, pl. 195.
A jar from the Osaka Museum without its cover is illustrated in Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, no. 1.59, p. 20; another in the Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen, is illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt in La Porcelaine Ming, no. 124, p. 134; a third in Chinese Ceramics in The Idemitsu Collection, pl. 191; and a fourth in the Jiangxi Fengchengxian Bowuguan is illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Da Cidian, no. 766, p. 393. Compare also with an example sold in these Rooms, 19 March 1991, lot 526.
Other smaller jars decorated with boys at play between lotus scrolls at the foot and shoulders are also recorded. Cf. one in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. V, pl. 13, pp. 46-47. Two others without covers are illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, op. cit., pp. 220-221.
(US$450,000-600,000)
The 'boys' theme was popular in Southern Song paintings particularly those of small children at play by the Academic painter, Su Hanchen (active early 12th Century). The imagery was particularly pertinent in later periods since it was good augury for the emperor to produce male heirs.
It is very rare to find a jar of this design complete with its cover. One excavated in 1980 in Chaoyangqu, Beijing and now in the Shoudu (Capital) Museum, Beijing, is illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zangci Xuan, pl. 121; another sold in Hong Kong, 13 November 1990, lot 142 is now in the Hong Kong Museum of Art; and another from the Collection of Charles Russell and of Mrs. Alfred Clark, sold in London, 6 June 1935, lot 97, is now in the British Museum, illustrated by Lion-Goldschmidt and Moreau-Gobard, Chinese Art, pl. 195.
A jar from the Osaka Museum without its cover is illustrated in Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, no. 1.59, p. 20; another in the Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen, is illustrated by Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt in La Porcelaine Ming, no. 124, p. 134; a third in Chinese Ceramics in The Idemitsu Collection, pl. 191; and a fourth in the Jiangxi Fengchengxian Bowuguan is illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Da Cidian, no. 766, p. 393. Compare also with an example sold in these Rooms, 19 March 1991, lot 526.
Other smaller jars decorated with boys at play between lotus scrolls at the foot and shoulders are also recorded. Cf. one in the National Palace Museum, Taibei, illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. V, pl. 13, pp. 46-47. Two others without covers are illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, op. cit., pp. 220-221.
(US$450,000-600,000)