An extremely rare yellow-ground iron-red enamelled Stemcup mark and period of Jiajing

the deep rounded sides sitting on a splayed foot and rising to an everted rim, the exterior finely enamelled with black outlines painted over in iron-red on a rich yellow ground with two dragons in mutual pursuit divided by cloud scrolls below the rim, above six cranes mid-flight among swirling clouds above a lotus lappet border, with further cranes flying above a band of overlapping upright leaves on the stem, the interior painted in underglaze-blue with a central shou character enclosed within a double-circle below a double band at the rim, the base with a six-character mark in underglaze-blue

From a Japanese pharmaceutical company. 

Jiajing stemcups are quite rare but the present piece is especially unusual for its overglaze decoration of iron-red on a pale yellow ground. It was during the Jiajing period that along with the traditional monochrome wares and blue and white wares a greater range of two-colour combinations, such as red on yellow, green on yellow, yellow on red, red on green, green on red, blue on yellow and others, was experimented with and introduced to imperial wares.

See a Jiajing mark and period bowl with this rare two-colour combination of red on yellow, from the Eumorfopoulos collection and now in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, pl. 9:9. Compare also a quatrefoil box similarly painted in overglaze red on a yellow ground, decorated with cranes in flight flanked by clouds, illustrated ibid., pl. 9:92. The reverse colour combination, yellow on red, was used for the making of the dragon jar, in the Jingdezhen Ceramics Museum, Jiangxi province, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 13, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 157; and another dragon jar in the Ataka collection published in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, col. Pl. 80.

The design of cranes flying among ruyi clouds, a common symbol of longevity with strong Daoist associations, was especially favoured by the Jiajing emperor who was a keen Daoist. According to Hall, ibid., p. 255, the design of the crane flying up to the sun can also express the wish that the recipient will rise to high office.