Property of a Gentleman
A small wucai ‘bajixiang and lotus’ square baluster jar, Mark and period of Jiajing
Auction Closed
March 19, 05:41 PM GTNN
Estimate
50,000 - 70,000 USD
Lot Details
Description
the recessed base with a six-character mark in underglaze blue within a double square, wood stand (2)
Height 4¾ in., 12 cm
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 19th November 1986, lot 213.
The Tianminlou collects ion.
Sotheby's Hong Kong, 29th May 2019, lot 18.
Chinese Porcelain in the S.C. Ko Tianminlou collects ion, Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong, 1987, cat. no. 72.
Liu Liang-yu, A Survey of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 4: Ming Official Wares, Taipei, 1991, p. 204 (bottom).
Jars of this square form decorated with such vibrant designs were an innovation of the Jiajing period that displays the creative freedom enjoyed by potters active in this period. The colorful wucai palette, allowed potters to create increasingly complex and colorful motifs, as cobalt blue was used for coloring and not only for delineating outlines as in the doucai (‘dove-tailed colors’) color scheme. While Jiajing potters did not develop completely new colors or decorative techniques, they creatively expanded the range of styles and color schemes to create bolder designs.
Compare three jars of this type sold in our London rooms, the first, from the collects ion of Stephen D. Winkworth, 25th April 1933, lot 347, the second with cover, from the collects ion of Lord Hollenden, 27th November 1973, lot 297, and the third of slightly larger size, from the Joseph M. Morpurgo collects ion, 11th May 2016, lot 171; two jars sold at Christie’s London, 21st April 1986, lots 412 and 413, the former sold again in our London rooms, 12th December 1989, lot 309; and a further example sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 5th/6th September 1997, lot 1051.
This motif continued to be popular in the succeeding Wanli reign (r. 1573-1620), when it was used on jars of globular shape; see for example a Wanli mark and period jar in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Lu Minghua, Mingdai guanyao ciqi [Ming imperial porcelain], Shanghai, 2007, pl. 4-23; and another, from the collects ion of Kwong Yee Che Tong, included in the exhibition The Fame of Flame. Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, Art Gallery, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 107.