CHINE, DYNASTIE QING, ÉPOQUE KANGXI (1662-1722)

The present jar is a rare large scale example of early Qing blue and white porcelain, notable for both its imposing size and ambitious continuous narrative decoration. Vessels of this scale were technically difficult to produce, as the large body was especially vulnerable to warping or cracking during firing, making successfully preserved examples comparatively rare.
The decoration is executed in a continuous panoramic composition encircling the body, depicting the celebrated Lanting Gathering (Lanting yaji) or “Floating Wine Cups along the Winding Stream,” inspired by the famous gathering of Wang Xizhi and fellow scholars at the Orchid Pavilion in 353 AD. The elegantly robed literati shown amidst rocks, pine trees and flowing streams evoke the cultivated ideals of poetic exchange, retreat and scholarly refinement long associated with this subject in Chinese painting and decorative arts. The inscription Lanting shengji (“The Famous Site of the Orchid Pavilion”) further reinforces the literati character of the composition, reflecting the increasingly painterly and scholarly aesthetic associated with the porcelain production.