JIAJING SIX-CHARACTER MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE WITHIN A DOUBLE CIRCLE AND OF THE PERIOD (1522-1566)

Monochrome yellow glazes were typically used to decorate dishes and bowls in the late fifteenth-sixteenth centuries. Although certain shades of yellow glaze were used on wares reserved for the sole use of the Imperial court, it appears that some yellow-glazed wares also found their way abroad, probably as diplomatic gifts. John Alexander Pope mentions in Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine, Washington, 1956, p. 151, that there are sixteen monochrome yellow-glazed wares amongst the Chinese porcelains dedicated to the Ardebil Shrine by Shah Abbas in 1611. These sixteen pieces date to the Hongzhi, Zhengde, Jiajing and Wanli periods.

A slightly larger yellow-glazed dish with Jiajing mark and of the period was sold at Christie’s London, 6 November 2018, lot 98.