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Lot Essay
This magnificent basin is exceptionally rare. The Longqing Emperor reigned for only a short period between 1567 to 1572, less than six years, and the area around Jingdezhen suffered from both extensive flooding and severe damage by fires during this reign. Not surprisingly, extant imperial Longqing porcelains are extremely scarce. Even the Qing court had relatively few pieces dating to the Longqing reign. The imperial Longqing porcelains are noted for their beautifully rich, jewel-like blue, a feature which is particularly evident on the current basin. Most surviving Longqing porcelains are relatively small in scale and very few other large Longqing-marked basins appear to have been published. Indeed in 1571 the Jingdezhen censor Xu Shi requested the large imperial order that were recently sent to Jingdezhen should be reduced by 80 percent. Specifically, he asked that the large basins should be removed from the order as they were particularly difficult to fire and there was a very high failure rate.
Only three other blue and white Longqing-marked basins of this design appear to have been published, all with varying degrees of restoration. One is in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China-Porcelain-Ming Dynasty, Shanghai, 2007, p. 163, no. 88 (fig. 1); the second is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 713; and the third, with the fifth claw effaced, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 April 1997, lot 674.
Despite the brevity of the Longqing reign period the decoration of this very rare large blue and white basin, can be distinguished from similar basins of the preceding Jiajing reign, such as the example gifted by J.M. Hu to the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Mingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, p. 158, fig. 3-84, and those of the succeeding Wanli reign, such as the example in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, see ibid., no. 714. Because of their scarcity and the beauty of their jewel-like blue, the porcelains of the Longqing reign have always been greatly prized by connoisseurs, the even greater rarity of the current basin makes it undoubtedly so.
Only three other blue and white Longqing-marked basins of this design appear to have been published, all with varying degrees of restoration. One is in the National Museum of China, illustrated in Studies of the Collections of the National Museum of China-Porcelain-Ming Dynasty, Shanghai, 2007, p. 163, no. 88 (fig. 1); the second is in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, illustrated in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, no. 713; and the third, with the fifth claw effaced, was sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 28 April 1997, lot 674.
Despite the brevity of the Longqing reign period the decoration of this very rare large blue and white basin, can be distinguished from similar basins of the preceding Jiajing reign, such as the example gifted by J.M. Hu to the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Mingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, p. 158, fig. 3-84, and those of the succeeding Wanli reign, such as the example in the Idemitsu Museum of Art, see ibid., no. 714. Because of their scarcity and the beauty of their jewel-like blue, the porcelains of the Longqing reign have always been greatly prized by connoisseurs, the even greater rarity of the current basin makes it undoubtedly so.