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Lot Essay
The theme of 'boys' was popular in southern Song paintings, particularly those with small children at play by the Academy painter, Su Hanchen (active early 12th century). The imagery was especially appropriate in later periods, since it was good augury for the emperor to produce male heirs. This was something about which the Jiajing emperor was particularly concerned.
A jar of this design with a cover was excavated in 1980 in Chaoyanqu, Beijing and is now in the Shoudu (Capital) Museum, Beijing. It is illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zangci Xuan, pl. 121. Another such jar is in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, while a third, formerly in the Charles Russel and in the Mrs. Alfred Clark collections, is now in the British Museum, illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt and Moreau-Gobard in Chinese Art, pl. 195.
Similar jars are found in various museum collections. One from the Osaka Museum, also without a cover, is illustrated in Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, p. 20, no. 1.59. Others are in the museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen, illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt in La Porcelaine Ming, Office du Livre, 1978, pl. 134, no. 124;
the Idemitsu Museum, illustarted in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, pl. 191; and in the Fengchengxian Museum, Jiangxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Da Cidian, p. 393, no. 766.
Smaller jars with this design were also made depicting the boys playing between lotus scrolls at the foot and shoulder of the object. One such example in the colllection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. V, pl. 13, pp. 46-47.
Jars with this decoration were obviously highly regarded in the Jiajing reign period and were decorated with the best cobalt, giving examples such as the current jar a beautiful deep sapphire colour.
A jar of this design with a cover was excavated in 1980 in Chaoyanqu, Beijing and is now in the Shoudu (Capital) Museum, Beijing. It is illustrated in Shoudu Bowuguan Zangci Xuan, pl. 121. Another such jar is in the collection of the Hong Kong Museum of Art, while a third, formerly in the Charles Russel and in the Mrs. Alfred Clark collections, is now in the British Museum, illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt and Moreau-Gobard in Chinese Art, pl. 195.
Similar jars are found in various museum collections. One from the Osaka Museum, also without a cover, is illustrated in Ming and Qing Ceramics and Works of Art, p. 20, no. 1.59. Others are in the museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen, illustrated by D. Lion-Goldschmidt in La Porcelaine Ming, Office du Livre, 1978, pl. 134, no. 124;
the Idemitsu Museum, illustarted in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, pl. 191; and in the Fengchengxian Museum, Jiangxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo Wenwu Jinghua Da Cidian, p. 393, no. 766.
Smaller jars with this design were also made depicting the boys playing between lotus scrolls at the foot and shoulder of the object. One such example in the colllection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. V, pl. 13, pp. 46-47.
Jars with this decoration were obviously highly regarded in the Jiajing reign period and were decorated with the best cobalt, giving examples such as the current jar a beautiful deep sapphire colour.