A FINE AND EXCEPTIONALLY RARE MING BLUE AND WHITE 'BOYS' JAR

細節
明嘉靖 青花庭院十六子罐 雙圈雙行六字楷書款

罐直口,短頸,豐肩,斂腹,圈足。通體繪青花十六子戲春圖,十六個娃娃活潑可愛,姿態各異,有的拖車,有的鬥蟋蟀,有的騎竹馬,各個生動傳神。肩及足牆各環纏枝蓮紋一周,器底雙圈中書「大明嘉靖年製」楷書款 。

此罐為Richard de la Mare 之舊藏,1953年在英國東方陶磁學會舉辦的《十四至十九世紀中國青花瓷器展》中 展出,1954年於威尼斯《中國藝術品展》再次展出,1974年4月2日在倫敦蘇富比拍賣,拍品207號。此罐亦著錄於1976年日本小學館出版之《世界陶磁全集》第14卷,圖版72。

嘉靖時期,青花以回青為原料,色澤鮮艷明亮。此器胎骨厚重,釉色肥腴瑩潤,甚具嘉靖青花的時代特色。嬰戲圖是嘉靖瓷器的主要裝飾紋飾之一,常繪十六子,畫面多是童子作耍玩姿態,生動有趣,呈現出一片歡樂的氣氛。「十六子」典出《左傳》,後用為稱頌皇帝的輔助大臣。據《明史》記載,嘉靖十年(1531)十一月,29歲的嘉靖皇帝求子心切,讓大臣們在京師御花園新設的「祈嗣醮」輪流守值j進香;並特遣欽差趕赴南海神廟,立碑祭禮,祈求早得龍子。同時,他讓司禮太監傳諭工部,明景德鎮御窰廠限期燒製一批繪有嬰戲紋的瓷器進呈。此後數年間,眾多繪有嬰戲紋飾的青花、五彩、鬥彩瓷器陸續進入宮中,滿足了皇帝及其嬪妃的視覺需求和心理願望。

傳世品中與此罐相仿亦有數例。分別藏於臺北國立故宮博物院、美國華盛頓的弗瑞爾美術館,另有幾例曾於佳士得和蘇富比拍賣。
來源
Richard de la Mare collection, sold at Sotheby's London, 2nd April 1974, lot 207
John Sparks, London
出版
Sekai Toji Zenshu, vol. 14, pl. 72, Shogakukan, Japan, 1976
展覽
London, Oriental Ceramic Society, Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, 14th to 19th Centuries, 1953, Catalogue, no. 160
Venice, Exhibition of Chinese Art, 1954, Catalogue, no. 674
Tokyo, Far Eastern Blue-and-White Porcelain, 1977, Catalogue, no. 53

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拍品專文

The depiction of children in Chinese art has its roots in Buddhist beliefs influenced by Daoism. Chinese Buddhism saw the soul newly born into paradise as an infant, although this is not how it is described in the Sukhavati-vyuha, 'The Sutra on the Buddha of Eternal Life'. This change to the Indian view was almost certainly due in part to the influence of the Shangqing Daoist vision of the self in embryonic state. It was also the Chinese monk, Zhi Dun (AD 314-366) who first described the re-born soul as entering Sukhavati, 'The Place of Great Bliss', through the calyx of a lotus flower. By the Tang dynasty images of round-cheeked children were no longer confined to religious art, but began to appear in a secular context as an auspicious symbol.

The theme of 'boys' became a favoured theme in Southern Song paintings, particularly by the Academy painter, Su Hanchen (active early 12th century). The Southern Song depiction of children with characteristic shaven heads, rounded faces and wide eyes evidently continued into the Ming period as can be seen from the children painted on the present jar. The theme of 'children at play' or 'a hundred boys' became symbolic of progeny and fulfillment of the Confucian ideal in the education, and advancement of sons.

The imagery was especially appropriate to the Jiajing Emperor. Being a devout Daoist and particularly concerned with producing male heirs. It was recorded in the Ming Shi, 'Ming History' that Emperor Jiajing had commissioned for a Daoist rite to take place in the Imperial Garden in the eleventh year of this reign (1532) for the intended purpose of praying for the birth of imperial sons. 'Boys jars' were good auguries for the emperor and highly regarded, thus were decorated with the best cobalt, such as the current jar.

Compare with similar examples of this size and pattern: the first in the collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Blue and White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol. V, pl. 13, pp. 46-47; an example from the Wingfield Digby collection sold at Sotheby's London, 3 December 1974, lot 284; a jar in the Freer Gallery of Art, Oriental Ceramics, vol. 9, Kodansha series, 1975, no. 111; and one sold at Sotheby's Hong Kong, 14 November 1989, lot 31. Larger jars with this design were also made depicting the boys playing between fruit and floral sprays reserved on a wan-diaper ground on the shoulder, such as one from the J.M.Hu collection, sold at Christie's Hong Kong, Nov 27, 2007, Lot 1738; and a jar from the Idemitsu Museum, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, pl. 191.

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