拍品专文
It is very rare to find Arabic inscribed wares with Jiajing marks as these almost always bear Zhengde marks. This box probably was made very early in the period, continuing the tradition of making very fine quality objects for the scholar's desk for the important Muslim officials residing at the Imperial court. One other near identical box also bearing a Jiajing mark, is illustrated in Sekai Toji Zenshu, Shogakukan Series, vol. 14, no. 213.
A rectangular box of this shape similarly decorated but with fewer cartouches was included in the Exhibition held at the Chang Foundation, Taibei, Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, no. 53; another is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, Ming Official Wares, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, p. 169; another similar example from the collection of Mrs. C.G. Seligman was included in the O.C.S. Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 1953-4, Catalogue, no. 137 together with a related Persian-inscribed brushrest from the same collection no. 134 and a Persian-inscribed vase from the Palmer collection, no. 136.
A square box with a diamond shape cartouche on the cover and four circular panels on the sides enclosing Arabic characters is illustrated by She Cheng, Mingdai Qinghua Ciqi Fazhan yu yishu zhi Yanjiu, no. 131, see also the vase and flower holder nos. 129 and 130.
Compare also to other Persian and Arabic inscribed scholar's objects included in The Philadelphia Exhibition of Ming Blue-and-White, 1949, Catalogue, such as the hexagonal candle holder from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, no. 102; or the three brushrests from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and C.T. Loo, nos. as 98, 99, and 105 respectively.
For a further discussion on this group of wares see Garner 'Blue and White of the Middle Ming Period', T.O.C.S., 1951-53, vol. 27, pp. 63-66, and Oriental Blue and White, pp. 28-30
A rectangular box of this shape similarly decorated but with fewer cartouches was included in the Exhibition held at the Chang Foundation, Taibei, Blue and White Porcelain from the Tianminlou Collection, Catalogue, no. 53; another is illustrated by Liu Liang-yu, Ming Official Wares, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, p. 169; another similar example from the collection of Mrs. C.G. Seligman was included in the O.C.S. Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 1953-4, Catalogue, no. 137 together with a related Persian-inscribed brushrest from the same collection no. 134 and a Persian-inscribed vase from the Palmer collection, no. 136.
A square box with a diamond shape cartouche on the cover and four circular panels on the sides enclosing Arabic characters is illustrated by She Cheng, Mingdai Qinghua Ciqi Fazhan yu yishu zhi Yanjiu, no. 131, see also the vase and flower holder nos. 129 and 130.
Compare also to other Persian and Arabic inscribed scholar's objects included in The Philadelphia Exhibition of Ming Blue-and-White, 1949, Catalogue, such as the hexagonal candle holder from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, no. 102; or the three brushrests from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and C.T. Loo, nos. as 98, 99, and 105 respectively.
For a further discussion on this group of wares see Garner 'Blue and White of the Middle Ming Period', T.O.C.S., 1951-53, vol. 27, pp. 63-66, and Oriental Blue and White, pp. 28-30