A LARGE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE OCTAGONAL DOUBLE-GOURD 'CRANE' VASE MING DYNASTY, JIAJING PERIOD

the baluster-shaped lower bulb painted to each face with a large crane medallion, the smaller upper globular bulb with lotus medallion, all divided at the waist and tapering neck by broad diaper, lotus-lappet, classic scroll and ruyi bands, the base unglazed

It is rare to find Jiajing vases of this magnificent size in this octagonal form, although a smaller double-gourd shaped octagonal vase, decorated with the Eight Immortals, from the Norton collection, was sold in these rooms, 5th November 1963, lot 157. In its decoration the present vase is reminiscent of a Jiajing jar sold in these rooms, 12th July 2006, lot 80, similarly painted with cranes below a band of floral medallions reserved on a dense floret-diaper ground. Another jar decorated with a related band design around the neck is illustrated in Azul e Branco da China, Lisbon, 1997, pl. 37, from the collection of Amaral Cabral.

The Jiajing emperor was a devout Daoist and the present vase, with its auspicious imagery of cranes and its shape after a gourd, was possibly made as a well-wishing gift for the emperor for long life and success. The double-gourd form symbolizes longevity and is associated with the Daoist Immortal Li Tieguai who is depicted holding a double-gourd containing the magic potion of longevity. See a Jiajing double-gourd vase painted with cranes, from the Toguri Museum collection and illustrated in Anthony du Boulay, Christie's Pictorial History of Chinese Ceramics, Oxford, 1984, p. 131, pl. 2, sold in these rooms, 9th June 2004, lot 26.