A rare blue and white ‘dragon and fish’ bowl, Mark and period of Jiajing

R.F.A. Riesco Collection, nos 207a and 253.

Sotheby's London, 11th December 1984, lot 328.

Spink & Son, Ltd., London.

Soudavar Collection.

This rare and characterful bowl combines two auspicious motifs popular during the Jiajing reign (1522-1566). To the exterior, the bowl is decorated with four fish frolicking among underwater foliage. This tranquil motif, seemingly a favorite of the Jiajing Emperor, is commonly associated with a sense of Daoist calm and a well-known passage from the Zhuangzi in which the philosopher notes 'Not being fish, how do we know their happiness?' Synonymous with the character for 'excess', fish (yu) have long been considered an emblem of wealth and abundance and this four-fish combination in particular (probably qing carp, bai whitefish, lian carp, and gui perch) has been said to form a more complex rebus: Qingbai liangui, 'Of good descent, modest and honorable' or Qingbai lianjie, 'Of honorable descent and incorruptible'. Similarly regal and auspicious, the interior decoration of five-clawed dragons and a phoenix only further support the piece’s imperial origins, with such motifs strictly restricted by law to use in the Ming imperial court.

Bowls of this broad form, playful decoration and Jiajing mark are very rare. Compare a closely related bowl of this design, now preserved in the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, illustrated in Patricia F. Ferguson, Cobalt Treasures: The Robert Murray Bell and Ann Walker Bell Collection of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, Toronto, 2003, pl. 69; another from the Ezekiel Collection, sold in our London rooms, 21st May 1946, lot 84; another from the collection of Henry Adams, sold at Christie’s London 6th October 1975, lot 155, and again in our London rooms, 12th December 1978, lot 389; and another, preserved in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji / The Complete Works of Chinese Ceramics, vol. 12, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 155.