An extremely fine and rare wucai ‘dragon and phoenix' winecup, Mark and period of Longqing | 明隆慶 五彩龍鳳紋酒盃 《大明隆慶年製》款

Collection of the Akaboshi Clan (by repute).

Collection of Shoan Komori (1901-1989).

Collection of Kojiro Ishiguro (1916-1992), Tokyo.

Tokyo Art Club Auction, Tokyo, 8th April 2023.

Lyan Arts, Tokyo.

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Akaboshi家族珍藏（據傳）

Shoan Komori(1901-1989)收藏

Kojiro Ishiguro(1916-1992)收藏，東京

東京美術俱楽部，東京，2013年4月8日

利菴藝廊，東京

Lyan Collection 2023, Tokyo, 2023, cat. no. 10.

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《Lyan Collection 2023》，東京，2023年，編號10

The Emperor’s Winecup

Porcelain wares from the fleeting six-year reign of Emperor Muzong of Ming – the Longqing Emperor – are among the most elusive and sought-after pieces ever produced at the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen. 

Although the brevity of the Longqing reign begins to explain the rarity of these treasures, other historical factors also severely limited the scale of porcelain production and contributed to the extraordinary importance and legacy of Longqing wares. Although the Longqing reign was short, it was far from uneventful. Plagued by severe floods and earthquakes throughout the 1560s and 1570s, and a particularly devastating fire in 1571, the imperial kilns of Jingdezhen were forced to severely limit production throughout much of the early 1570s, rolling back on the enormous levels of production required in the preceding decades. As such, pieces successfully fired bearing the coveted reign mark of the period – Da Ming Longqing nian zao (Made in the Longqing reign of the Great Ming Dynasty) – are exceedingly rare. 

While the Longqing Emperor would also eventually succumb to the excesses of imperial life, his reign was generally typified by a fresh sense of order, progress and stability in contrast to the erratic and corrupt decline of the late Jiajing (1522-1566). Restoring the administrative state after his father’s reclusion, expelling corrupt officials from the court, reopening foreign trade and negotiating peace with Mongols to the north, the Longqing Emperor and his court established a harmony and peace in the capital that would endure long after his untimely death.

This harmony is perhaps no better represented than by the present cup. Featuring a phoenix and dragon swirling playfully among lush foliage, the cup’s design represents the pinnacle of elegance and balance. While dragons typically represent masculine yang energy and power, the phoenix – their foil – embodies the female yin force of grace and calm and lend the cup an ineffable sense of balance. This iconographic combination of the five-clawed dragon and phoenix has also long been inextricably linked with the Emperor and his empresses. Representing a prosperous and auspicious reign, sanctioned by heaven, the use of these images by commoners was strictly proscribed by the Ming legal codes, and further confirms the piece’s imperial origins.

To date, no other cups of this extraordinary design appear to survive and only five others are comparable. Indeed, among surviving Longqing cups, no more than three examples of any individual design appear to have been identified, implying that each may have been commissioned as an individual set for the Emperor’s personal use. Compare three Longqing cups featuring iron red dragons between two bands of underglaze blue: a pair, still preserved in the National Palace Museum, Taipei (accession nos Gu ci 002435 and 002436), one of which is illustrated in Minji Meihin Zuroku [Illustrated catalogue of important Ming porcelains. Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli], vol. III, Tokyo, 1978, pl. 54; and a single cup from the collection of Sir Percival David, now preserved in the British Museum, London (accession no. PDF.765), included in the Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ming Style Polychrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, London, 2006, p. 37, cat. no. 765. Compare two further examples – presumably also once a pair – decorated in a polychrome palette of red, turquoise and underglaze blue, with the fifth claw of each dragon intentionally effaced: the first, preserved in the Umezawa Kinenkan, Tokyo, illustrated in Yuan and Ming Porcelain from the Collection of the Umezawa Memorial Museum, MOA Art Museum, Atami, 1992, cat. no. 42; and the second sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 7th May 2025, lot 3659. 

While these surviving cups each feature similar dragon designs and share the nianzao mark of the present, no known examples begin to compare in terms of the fineness of its form and excellence of its enameling. Revived by his father after a century of neglect, wucai (lit. ‘five colour’) enameling appears to have been a favourite of the Longqing Emperor and is expertly applied here to highlight the vivacity and serenity of the imperial design. Thoughtfully painted in an austere yet playful manner, the wucai enamels have been fired with exceptional temperature control to produce a vibrant polychrome scene that still glows after centuries of treasured ownership. While wucai dragon-and-phoenix designs would become a mainstay of Wanli period (1573-1620) production, comparable examples from the Jiajing reign are rare and almost unheard of in the Longqing. Compare a possible prototype of this wucai cup design of Jiajing mark and period – also seemingly unique – from the collections of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Clark, R.H.R Palmer and Meiyintang, sold in our Hong Kong rooms, 3rd April 2012, lot 30; and a rare set of wucai dishes of Longqing mark and period featuring two confronting dragons, including one from the Paget Collection in the British Museum, London, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, cat. no. 10:8, in which the author attributes all known examples to a single “series commissioned by the Longqing emperor, probably for serving food.”

此件明隆慶五彩龍鳳紋酒盃，底署《大明隆慶年製》楷書款，為景德鎮御窯於明穆宗（即隆慶帝，1567–1572年）短暫六年在位期間所製，展現一代帝王與宮廷工藝並世罕見之結晶，彌足珍貴。

隆慶瓷器之稀有，固與其朝代之短促有關，但更深層之緣由，尚包括一系列嚴峻之歷史因素，導致景德鎮御窯於隆慶初年產量大幅削減。明世宗（嘉靖帝）晚年政治腐敗，天災頻仍，景德鎮於1560至1570年代接連遭洪水、地震與火災侵襲，尤以1571年之大火重創窯務。宮廷需求急遽減少，導致隆慶年款瓷器存世極為罕見。

然隆慶朝雖短，卻非無政績。相對於父帝嘉靖之離世恍惚，隆慶帝即位後迅速整頓朝政，整肅官僚、恢復對外貿易、與北方蒙古議和，為萬曆初年奠定基礎。這種政治上的協和與中正，亦可於此酒盃之造型與圖案中見出。盃身繪以五彩釉繪龍鳳穿梭於花葉之間，動靜相宜，象徵陰陽調和。龍為陽剛、權威之象徵，鳳為陰柔、祥瑞之化身，合而為飾，自古為帝后象徵，並依《大明律》規定，嚴禁庶民擅用。

此類圖案之五彩瓷酒盃存世罕見，目前僅見五件風格相近之例，皆屬孤品或成對者不逾三組，推測為帝王御用之特別成組委燒。可參比較：兩件飾釉裡紅雙龍紋，下承青花雙圈之酒盃，現藏台北國立故宮博物院（故瓷 002435與002436），其中一件著錄於《明磁名品図錄》，卷3，東京，1978年，圖版54；及大衛爵士舊藏之單件酒盃，今藏大英博物館（藏品編號PDF.765），見《Illustrated Catalogue of Ming and Ming Style Polychrome Wares in the Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art》，倫敦，2006年，頁37，編號765。另有兩件應為成對者之五彩龍盃，採紅、松石綠與青花彩料繪製，然第五爪刻意磨除，今分別藏東京梅澤紀念館，載於《梅澤紀念館所蔵：中國．元明の陶磁》，MOA美術館，1992年，編號42）及香港蘇富比，2025年5月7日，編號3659。

然而，上述諸例無一可比於本盃之器型優雅與彩繪之精緻。本盃所用之五彩釉技法，復興自嘉靖朝之宮廷喜好，於隆慶年間更臻爐火純青。其繪飾筆觸洗練，色彩層次分明，窯溫控制得宜，歷經數世紀仍光彩照人，堪稱五彩瓷中之翹楚。類似龍鳳五彩設計於萬曆朝日益普遍，惟嘉靖者亦屬罕見，而隆慶朝例則更為稀有。可參考一件嘉靖年製，或為本器設計原型之五彩龍鳳酒盃，原屬Alfred Clark伉儷、R.H.R. Palmer與玫茵堂舊藏，售於香港蘇富比，2012年4月3日，編號30；另見一組隆慶年款雙龍對峙之五彩盤，其中一例為大英博物館Paget舊藏，見 Jessica Harrison-Hall，《Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum》，倫敦，2001年，編號10:8，作者推斷其屬隆慶皇帝委製之同一系列，專供御膳用器。