A massive blue and white 'dragon' jar and cover, Mark and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　青花雲龍獻壽圖蓋罐　《大明嘉靖年製》款

The Toguri Collection.

Sotheby's London, 9th June 2004, lot 29.

Kaikan kinen meihin ten/Commemorative Exhibition for the Opening, Toguri Museum of Art, Tokyo, 1987, cat.no.20 (illustrated).

Nakazawa Fujio, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Toguri Museum of Art', Orientations, April 1988, p.49, fig.11.

Zaidan Hôjin Toguri Bijutsukan zôhin senshû: Seireki 2000 nen kinen zuroku (Selected Works from the Toguri Art Museum Foundation: Commemorative catalogue of the year 2000 AD), Tokyo, 2000, pl.27.

Towering at over two feet, awash with regal scenes of bright blue tone, the present jar is a rare and extraordinary treasure of the Jiajing reign. Over his tumultuous forty-six year reign, Emperor Shizong faced invasion from the north, political turmoil and several attempts on his life. In response to these external threats, he soon chose to live beyond the chaos of the Forbidden City, embracing Daoism and embarking on a search for immortality that would inadvertently change the course of Chinese art history in its wake. To furnish Beijing’s new palace gardens and Daoist temples, the Jiajing court ordered huge quantities of ceramics; so much so that works had to also be commissioned from neighbouring unofficial kilns in Jingdezhen stimulating a new wave of vibrant and creative porcelain production, totally unmatched in the preceding Hongzhi and Zhengde reigns. 

Even the grand auspicious design of this jar pays homage to the Jiajing Emperor. Featuring two ferocious five-clawed dragons (symbols of the emperor) which seem to bulge out into the foreground, and peach trees shaped into the character for longevity (shou), the jar is an apt representation of the Emperor himself: regal, royal and majestic; in search of an everlasting legacy. 

Jiajing jars of such extraordinary size and design still retaining their cover are rare and very seldom come to market. Compare similar covered jars preserved in the world’s most important collections, including: a slightly smaller (54.2 cm) example the Palace Museum, Beijing, in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red, vol. II, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 96; another jar and cover of this type, excavated in the outskirts of Beijing, now preserved in the Capital Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Zhongguo taoci quanji, vol. 12, Shanghai, 2000, pl. 163; a third example in the Asian Art Museum, San Francisco (accession no. B60P99+.a-.b), illustrated in René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé, Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection, Berkeley, 1967, pl. LIV; a fourth in the Fondation Baur, Geneva, illustrated in John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection, Gevena, 1999, vol. I, pl. 73; a fifth in Sekai tōji zenshu / Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 212; and a sixth, illustrated in Min Shin no bijutsu [Arts of the Ming and Qing], Tokyo, 1982, pl. 92. Also compare a similar Jiajing dragon jar and cover from the Sixuezhai Collection, sold in these rooms, 7th October 2006, lot 919; a jar included in Chinese Ceramics in the Idemitsu Collection, Tokyo, 1987, pl. 707; and another in the Musée Guimet, Paris, published in The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics, vol. 7, Tokyo, 1981, col. pl. 81.

來源

戶栗收藏

倫敦蘇富比2004年6月9日，編號29

出版

中澤富士雄，「Chinese Ceramics in the Toguri Museum of Art」，《Orientations》，1988年4月，頁49，圖11

戶栗美術館，《財團法人戶栗美術館藏品選集：西曆2000年記念圖錄》，東京，2000年，圖版27號

展覽

戶栗美術館，《開館記念名品展》，東京，1987年，編號20（插圖）

青花雲龍圖蓋罐，逾二英尺高，青花濃麗，碩美懾人，實嘉靖朝珍品。明世宗在位四十六年，時局不平，面對來自北方的侵擾、政局動盪，甚至數次暗殺。眾多壓力下，嘉靖帝選擇投身道教，追求成道，遠離俗世紛擾，此舉徹底改變了中國藝術發展史。為了北京新建造的宮殿庭園與寺院，朝廷命造大量瓷器用以陳設，數量之大超過御窰廠所能應付，景德鎮周邊民窰亦加入生產，帶動一波造瓷高峰，產業之活力與創意，泉湧奔放，前朝弘治與正德朝皆無可比擬的。

蓋罐造形與紋飾，尊貴祥瑞，彷若向聖上致敬，五爪二龍相逐，象徵九五之尊，靈動如生，搭配「壽」字桃樹，就像是嘉靖皇帝追尋長生之術。

如此體量的嘉靖龍紋大罐，猶帶原蓋者，珍稀罕得。比較重要博物館藏品，如北京故宮博物院藏一件尺寸較小作例，54.2公分，錄於《故宮博物院藏文物珍品全集：青花釉裏紅（中）》，上海，2000年，圖版96；另一蓋罐，出土於北京市郊，現藏于北京首都博物館，載于《中國陶瓷全集》，卷12，上海，2000年，圖版163；第三例藏於舊金山亞洲藝術博物館，館藏編號B60P99+.a-.b，出版於René-Yvon Lefebvre d’Argencé，《Chinese Ceramics in the Avery Brundage Collection》，柏克萊，1967年，圖版LIV；日內瓦鮑氏東方藝術館藏一例，刊於John Ayers，《Chinese Ceramics in the Baur Collection》，日內瓦，1999年，卷1，圖版73；並參考《世界陶磁全集》，卷14，東京，1976年，圖版212；《明清の美術》，東京，1982年，圖版92。思學齋舊藏一例，2006年10月7日售於香港蘇富比，編號919。《出光美術館藏品圖錄：中國陶磁》，東京，1987年，圖版707；巴黎吉美美術館藏例，錄於《The World's Great Collections. Oriental Ceramics》，卷7，東京，1981年，彩圖版81。