A LARGE BLUE AND WHITE DOUBLE-GOURD VASE MARK AND PERIOD OF JIAJING

with a swelling lower bulb supported on a slightly splayed foot, rising to a cinched waist and a slightly smaller upper bulb surmounted by a short tubular neck, each bulb freely painted with four medallions formed of ruyi clouds, enclosing either an ascending en face five-clawed dragon writhing, a descending male phoenix with serrated tail feathers, an ascending female phoenix with a curled tail or a swooping crane, divided by foliate sprays of ruyi surmounted by one of the 'Eight Treasures' (babao), all between a border of overlapping petals above a 'classic' scroll on the foot and pendent petal lappets below a lotus scroll around the neck, the waist encircled with detached lotus and foliate ground, the recessed base inscribed in underglaze blue with a six-character reign mark

Christie’s New York, 21^st September 2000, lot 299.

There is a slight lean in the vase to the upper bulb. There is a firing crack around the inner foot. There is a small 1 cm. polished area of the glaze inside the rim. There are some burst air bubble and a few gaps in the glaze around the body, some expected firing impurities, but overall the vase is in quite good condition.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

The present vase is impressive for its large size, robust potting and dynamic decoration in blue cobalt, which are characteristic of ceramics made during Jiajing’s reign. A closely related example in the Philadelphia Museum, Philadelphia, was included in the museum’s exhibition Ming Blue-and-White, 1948, cat. no. 110; one in the Copenhagen Museum of Decorative Arts, Copenhagen, is illustrated in Andre Leth, Catalogue of Selected Objects of Chinese Art in the Museum of Decorative Art, Copenhagen, Copenhagen, 1959, pl. 112; another from the C.M. Woodbridge collection was sold in our London rooms, 8^th May 1951, lot 45; a fourth vase was sold at Christie’s London, 21^st June 2001, lot 86; and a pair of vases was sold in our New York rooms, 21^st January 1972, lot 196.

Vases of this form are well-known decorated with another auspicious scene of deer, cranes and tortoise amongst peach and pine trees on the lower bulb and cranes and trees in the form of auspicious characters; see one in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, illustrated in Suzanne G. Valenstein, A Handbook of Chinese Ceramics, New York, 1975, pl. 166, where she notes that although quantity became the ultimate goal at the Jingdezhen kilns and enormous orders from the Palace were to be filled, Jiajing wares can be appreciated for their enthusiastic, somewhat insouciant, style and high-spirited quality (p. 187).