A RARE BLUE AND WHITE OCTAGONAL 'BOYS' JAR AND COVER MARK AND PERIOD OF WANLI

of octagonal section, the straight walls rising from a short foot, the exterior painted in vivid shades of cobalt-blue with eight panels, each detailed with boys at play in a balustraded garden scene, the underside inscribed with a six-character reign mark within double circles, the fitted cover of conforming shape similarly adorned with three boys at play in a craggy landscape below a pine tree, all encircled by a lingzhi border, surmounted by a squirrel knop

Mayuyama Ryusendo, Tokyo.
An Asian Family Collection.
Christie's Hong Kong, 29th April 2002, lot 611.

Chuugoku touji meiho ten shiriizu, The Gotoh Museum, Tokyo, 1966.

Mayuyama, Seventy Years, Tokyo, 1976, vol. 1, pl. 958.

The jar has some minor frittings to the mouthrim and edges above the foot. There is also a 0.7 cm shallow chip to the interior lip of the jar. The 'squirrel' knop of the cover has some frits which have been slightly polished down. One corner has a 0.3 cm shallow polished flake. There is an inconsequential 1.2 cm shallow L-shaped firing crack to the unglazed rim of the cover. Apart from some surface scratches to the cover and body lines to the interior and along the luting line on the jar, the overall condition is quite good.
"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 finely painted blue-and-white box is unusual for the decoration of 'boys at play' with no other box and cover of this form and design combination recorded. The theme of 'boys at play' was popular not only from earlier, Song dynasty, paintings, but it also came to represent an auspicious imagery expressing the wish for male heirs.  

Lobed Wanli mark and period boxes painted with figures in landscape in polychrome enamels are more readily found, for example see one illustrated in Sekai toji zenshu, vol. 14, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 263; and another sold in these rooms, 28^th November 1979, lot 81. See also a blue-and-white lobed box decorated with scholars pursuing leisurely activities sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 28^th November 2005, lot 1422.

An octagonal form Wanli box of similar dimensions as the present piece, but decorated with flowers, butterflies and insects in wucai enamels was sold in our London rooms, 13^th December 1988, lot 191; another octagonal box in the Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, bearing dragons above waves, was included in the exhibition The Arts of the Ming Dynasty, Detroit Art Museum, Detroit, 1952, cat. no. 175; and a hexagonal box version of the dragon design, in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, is published in Enamelled Ware of the Ming Dynasty, Book III, Hong Kong, 1966, pl. 6.