AN IRON-RED AND YELLOW-GLAZED 'DRAGON' JAR JIAJING MARK AND PERIOD

the baluster body rising from a recessed base to a short straight neck, brightly decorated around the exterior with two sinuous scaly yellow dragon amidst leafy scrolling ruyi, all between rocks and waves at the base and ruyi clouds at the shoulder and reserved on a rich dark iron-red ground, the six-character mark in underglaze-blue to the base, carved wood stand, Japanese wood box

Chugoku Toji Meihou Ten, Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 1955.

There is an approximately 6.5cm crack running diagonally from the rim, there is also a 1.2cm long crack running vertically from the rim to the other side. There is also an approx 2.5cm horizontal glaze crack to the interior rim. There is a star crack to the base 4.5cm by 2cm and there is some rubbing to the iron-red enamel.
"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."

Contrasting colours and longevity motifs are perhaps the two most characteristic features of Jiajing imperial porcelains. The juxtaposition of the imperial five-clawed dragon with sprays of longevity fungus, instead of the usual lotus scroll, symbolically links the ruler to long life, and reflects the Jiajing emperor’s fervent pursuit of longevity and attachment to Daoist practices promising the attainment of immortality. The auspicious message is here carried through even in the colour scheme, where yellow, the imperial colour, is surrounded by red, the colour of good luck. Combinations of two different glaze colours are characteristic of the Jiajing reign, but the present one is a rare case where the two colours are superimposed and had to be fired at different times and temperatures.

Jars of this type are held in important museum and private collections worldwide; see one in the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, included in the exhibition, In Pursuit of the Dragon, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, 1988, cat. no. 44; one exhibited in Iron in the Fire, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1988, cat. no. 6; another, formerly in the Avery Brundage Collection and now in the in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, illustrated in He Li, Chinese Ceramics. The New Standard Guide, London, 1996, pl. 483; and a fourth example from the Meiyintang collection, illustrated in Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection, vol. 2, London, 1994, pl. 706, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7^th April 2011, lot 66. A covered jar of this form and decoration, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is illustrated in Daisy Lion-Goldschmidt, Ming Porcelain, London, 1978, pl. 145.