Lot Essay
A number of Jiajing or Wanli-marked jars of this type exist but few are comparable in the boldness of painting and strength of vivid violet-blue tones on a milky white surface as in the present example
Sir Harry Garner in Oriental Blue and White, London 1954, makes the following comments in regard to media and subject matter of Jiajing ceramics, "The blue and white of the reign of Jiajing (1522-1566) has always been prized for the brillance of its blue decoration. In spite of the use of imported 'Mohammedan blue' in the earlier Ming reigns, the potters were rarely able to avoid a touch of greyness in the blue. In the reign of Jiajing the potters suceeded, partly by the use of imported color and partly no doubt by the improved methods of purifying the colbalt ore, in getting the brillant dark purplish blue which is regarded as typical of this period. The Chinese were usually tolerant in religious matters and we generally find Buddism, Daoism, and Confucionism flourishing side by side. But Jiajing, in his attachment to Daoism, was intolerant of other religious creeds and made great efforts to suppress them. We are told, for example, that in 1536 the Buddhist temples in Peking were destroyed by his order. Under these circumstances we find, as we should expect, a strong Daoist influence in the subjects chosen for the decoration of the Jiajing blue and white. The emblems of immortality, such as the pine tree, deer, and crane are used in various combinations. A favorite device is the peach tree with its trunk twisted into the form of the symbol of long life (shou). At the same time many of the subjects used in earlier reigns were continued. They include the dragon, phoenix, flower scrolls and children at play."
In the 1988 Catalogue of the loan exhibit from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts entitled "The Pursuit of the Dragon, Traditions, and Transitions in Ming Ceramics", Mary Anne Rogers notes (p. 106) that the typical Jiajing dragon has "lumpy brows and straining eyes, haloed by sharply fringed lashes, thick tresses sweeping from beneath the necks into high coiffures, and strong curving bodies propelled by widely stretched limbs" - two of which characteristics are found in our example. "The rock formation, a central peak flanked symmetrically by two lesser ones, is akin in shape to the ideograph meaning 'mountain'. The Jiajing-period decorator's compulsion to create images suggestive of longevity (the ruyi and shou character in our jar) reflect the emperor's personal preoccupation with attaining everlasting life."
See, also, John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, p. 125, where the author notes in relation to the Jiajing ceramic production that, "While certain well-known types have come to be recognized as Jiajing and others clearly Wanli, there is a considerable body of unmarked sixteenth-century wares which remain unclassified. Many of the types of decoration appear to have been used equally in both reigns. A case in point is provided by a group of five large vessels of guan shape decorated with five-clawed dragons. The one illustrated (29.520, pl. 79) has the Wanli mark written in six-characters in a horizontal line on the neck, but the other four are marked Jiajing, in three cases in a glazed circle in the center of an unglazed base. Others of this family with the Jiajing mark on the neck are known." The present example is from this latter group
For other examples in major museums around the world, see Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 81 from the Musée Guimet, another ibid., vol. 3, fig. 204, from the Museum Pusat, Jakarta; R.L. Hobson, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, vol. II, London, 1915, pl. 72, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 1935, pl. 34; Idemitsu Museum, The Fifteenth Anniversary, Catalogue, 1981, pl. 804; M. Fedderson, Chinese Decorative Arts, 1961, fig. 53, from the National Museum, Copenhagen; Wenwu, 1972:6, p. 64, fig. 2; and Chinese Ceramics from the Toguri Collection, Catalogue, p. 83, pl. 96
For another see John Ayers, The Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. 11, Geneva, 1969, pl. A156, no. 170, as well as the example, also Jiajing marked, illustrated by René Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, pp. 118-119, pl. LIV
Sir Harry Garner in Oriental Blue and White, London 1954, makes the following comments in regard to media and subject matter of Jiajing ceramics, "The blue and white of the reign of Jiajing (1522-1566) has always been prized for the brillance of its blue decoration. In spite of the use of imported 'Mohammedan blue' in the earlier Ming reigns, the potters were rarely able to avoid a touch of greyness in the blue. In the reign of Jiajing the potters suceeded, partly by the use of imported color and partly no doubt by the improved methods of purifying the colbalt ore, in getting the brillant dark purplish blue which is regarded as typical of this period. The Chinese were usually tolerant in religious matters and we generally find Buddism, Daoism, and Confucionism flourishing side by side. But Jiajing, in his attachment to Daoism, was intolerant of other religious creeds and made great efforts to suppress them. We are told, for example, that in 1536 the Buddhist temples in Peking were destroyed by his order. Under these circumstances we find, as we should expect, a strong Daoist influence in the subjects chosen for the decoration of the Jiajing blue and white. The emblems of immortality, such as the pine tree, deer, and crane are used in various combinations. A favorite device is the peach tree with its trunk twisted into the form of the symbol of long life (shou). At the same time many of the subjects used in earlier reigns were continued. They include the dragon, phoenix, flower scrolls and children at play."
In the 1988 Catalogue of the loan exhibit from the Idemitsu Museum of Arts entitled "The Pursuit of the Dragon, Traditions, and Transitions in Ming Ceramics", Mary Anne Rogers notes (p. 106) that the typical Jiajing dragon has "lumpy brows and straining eyes, haloed by sharply fringed lashes, thick tresses sweeping from beneath the necks into high coiffures, and strong curving bodies propelled by widely stretched limbs" - two of which characteristics are found in our example. "The rock formation, a central peak flanked symmetrically by two lesser ones, is akin in shape to the ideograph meaning 'mountain'. The Jiajing-period decorator's compulsion to create images suggestive of longevity (the ruyi and shou character in our jar) reflect the emperor's personal preoccupation with attaining everlasting life."
See, also, John Alexander Pope, Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, p. 125, where the author notes in relation to the Jiajing ceramic production that, "While certain well-known types have come to be recognized as Jiajing and others clearly Wanli, there is a considerable body of unmarked sixteenth-century wares which remain unclassified. Many of the types of decoration appear to have been used equally in both reigns. A case in point is provided by a group of five large vessels of guan shape decorated with five-clawed dragons. The one illustrated (29.520, pl. 79) has the Wanli mark written in six-characters in a horizontal line on the neck, but the other four are marked Jiajing, in three cases in a glazed circle in the center of an unglazed base. Others of this family with the Jiajing mark on the neck are known." The present example is from this latter group
For other examples in major museums around the world, see Oriental Ceramics, The World's Great Collections, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, pl. 81 from the Musée Guimet, another ibid., vol. 3, fig. 204, from the Museum Pusat, Jakarta; R.L. Hobson, Chinese Pottery and Porcelain, vol. II, London, 1915, pl. 72, from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Ming Porcelains in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, 1935, pl. 34; Idemitsu Museum, The Fifteenth Anniversary, Catalogue, 1981, pl. 804; M. Fedderson, Chinese Decorative Arts, 1961, fig. 53, from the National Museum, Copenhagen; Wenwu, 1972:6, p. 64, fig. 2; and Chinese Ceramics from the Toguri Collection, Catalogue, p. 83, pl. 96
For another see John Ayers, The Baur Collection Catalogue, vol. 11, Geneva, 1969, pl. A156, no. 170, as well as the example, also Jiajing marked, illustrated by René Yvon Lefebvre d'Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, San Francisco, 1967, pp. 118-119, pl. LIV