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Lot Essay
This boldly decorated jar is extremely rare in both form and style of decoration, and no other Jiajing-marked jar of this type decorated with designs reserved in white against a blue ground appears to have been published. Very few Jiajing-marked jars of this form appear to have been published, each with different decoration. One of the best-known examples is the jar decorated with dragons rendered in green enamel (fig. 1) illustrated by J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics, The Koger Collection, London, 1985, p. 107, no. 82 and front cover. Ayers also illustrates a Jiajing jar of this form with its matching cover decorated with cranes and shou characters painted in cobalt blue against a white ground, ibid., p. 85, no. 61. A virtually identical jar and cover is preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taiwan, and illustrated in Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book V, Hong Kong, 1963, pl. 16. The only other Jiajing jar of this form which appears to have been published is the example decorated with dragons rendered entirely in iron-red in the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, which was included in the exhibition, Chinese Ceramics, Los Angeles County Museum, 14 March - 27 April 1952, no. 305.
The daring technique of painting designs in underglaze cobalt blue so that the ground appears blue and the individual motifs appear reserved in white was especially time consuming and required great skill. The technique appears to have developed in the mid-Yuan period, being employed on vessels such as the large dish illustrated by R. Krahl and J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, p. 386, no. 559, and enjoyed particular popularity during the reign of the Xuande Emperor, as evidenced by the numerous wares made for the court illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, nos. 39, 73, 79, 90 and 132, amongst others. The technique appears to have fallen out of favor during the late 15th century, but was revived during the 16th century during the reigns of the Jiajing and Wanli Emperors. Other Jiajing-marked blue and white wares decorated in this technique include the hemispherical bowl painted with dragons and shou characters illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 241, no. 9:53, along with two Jiajing dishes painted in this manner with cranes and shou characters, p. 241, nos. 9:54 and 9:55. See, also, the Jiajing-marked dish in the Percival David Foundation decorated with a peach tree in the form of a shou character included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Blue and Copper-Red Decorated Porcelains, London, rev. ed., 2004, p. 26, no. 621, and the Jiajing bowl decorated with dragons sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 5-6 November 1996, lot 753. The Percival David Foundation also contains a Wanli-marked brush handle painted partly in reserved decoration, illustrated by R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 91, no. 93.
The inclusion of a crane, a popular symbol of longevity, in the design is in keeping with the Jiajing Emperor's keen interest in Daoism and notorious obsession with immortality. Here the crane is combined with dragon and phoenix, symbols of the emperor and empress.
The daring technique of painting designs in underglaze cobalt blue so that the ground appears blue and the individual motifs appear reserved in white was especially time consuming and required great skill. The technique appears to have developed in the mid-Yuan period, being employed on vessels such as the large dish illustrated by R. Krahl and J. Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, p. 386, no. 559, and enjoyed particular popularity during the reign of the Xuande Emperor, as evidenced by the numerous wares made for the court illustrated in the Catalogue of the Special Exhibition of Selected Hsüan-te Imperial Porcelains of the Ming Dynasty, Taipei, 1998, nos. 39, 73, 79, 90 and 132, amongst others. The technique appears to have fallen out of favor during the late 15th century, but was revived during the 16th century during the reigns of the Jiajing and Wanli Emperors. Other Jiajing-marked blue and white wares decorated in this technique include the hemispherical bowl painted with dragons and shou characters illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, p. 241, no. 9:53, along with two Jiajing dishes painted in this manner with cranes and shou characters, p. 241, nos. 9:54 and 9:55. See, also, the Jiajing-marked dish in the Percival David Foundation decorated with a peach tree in the form of a shou character included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Blue and Copper-Red Decorated Porcelains, London, rev. ed., 2004, p. 26, no. 621, and the Jiajing bowl decorated with dragons sold at Sotheby's, Hong Kong, 5-6 November 1996, lot 753. The Percival David Foundation also contains a Wanli-marked brush handle painted partly in reserved decoration, illustrated by R. Scott, Elegant Form and Harmonious Decoration - Four Dynasties of Jingdezhen Porcelain, London, 1992, p. 91, no. 93.
The inclusion of a crane, a popular symbol of longevity, in the design is in keeping with the Jiajing Emperor's keen interest in Daoism and notorious obsession with immortality. Here the crane is combined with dragon and phoenix, symbols of the emperor and empress.