JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN A DOUBLE SQUARE AND OF THE PERIOD

Although double-gourd vases are quite common in the Jiajing period, this particular form, with squared lower section and circular upper section occurs very rarely; it has been suggested that this form symbolizes the dual forces of heaven and earth. A vase of this form with very similar design from the Charles Russell collection was sold in London, 6 June 1935, lot 95, where there is a note mentioning that an identical vase is in the Tapestry Room at Penshurst Place, Kent; another, with its neck missing, is in the Manchester City Art Galleries, and is illustrated by C.M. Kauffmann, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, Oriental Art, vol.V, no.3, Autumn 1959, p.121, fig.2. Other vases of this form, but with different scenes depicted on the lobes are illustrated in Mayuyama, op.cit., Tokyo, 1976, vol.1, no.860; in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Tokyo, 1976, vol.14, colour pl.190, and also in Toji Taikei, vol.42, colour pl.26; another from the Bloxham Collection is illustrated by Hobson, Rackham and King, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, 1931, p.131, fig.200; and a final example is illustrated in Ceramic Art of the World, 1976, vol.14, colour pl.190.