Porcelain Jar
Ming dynasty, Jiajing period, 1522-1566
Diameter of the rim: 19.8cm
Height: 34.5cm
Porcelain Cover
20th century, by Kawase Chikushun II
Height of jar with cover: 42.5cm
Underglaze blue and overglaze enamel decorated wucai porcelain ‘fish’ jar. The jar is robustly potted with a short straight neck and thick lip, and generously rounded shoulders that narrow slightly towards the base. The central register is vibrantly decorated with eight large and small golden carp, leaping and diving in a lotus pond. The fish are a rich burnished orange colour with the details of the overlapping scales, dorsal and tail fins, gills and barbels finely outlined in iron red, and the eyes picked out in black. The constant darting motion of the carp is vividly captured: one uses its tail to propel itself from the bottom; another plunges downwards its body twisted in motion; others are shown from above or beneath. Emerging from the depths are clusters of plants, including the feathery fronds of pond weed, and lotus, depicted as buds and as flowers in full bloom, with open and furled leaves, in underglaze blue, overglaze iron red, and yellow, green and black enamels. Floating above the fish, as if on the surface of the water, are four-petalled flowers, fallen leaves and clumps of water plants including water chestnut and water lily. The shoulder of the vessel is painted with squared lappets, outlined in underglaze blue and filled with alternating rich colours of orange, yellow and blue, each containing a Buddhist emblem, while emerging from the base is a band of overlapping leaf tips in underglaze blue. The six-character reign mark of Jiajing is painted in underglaze blue on the base.
The slightly domed wucai porcelain cover is surmounted by a bud-shaped finial richly painted in swirling bands of yellow, green, red and blue emerging from a row of petals. Radiating from the finial itself are linked strands of beaded jewels on the upper surface of the cover. The straight sides of the cover are delicately painted with two pairs of confronted carp swimming amidst lotus and water weeds depicted in rich enamel colours, all between double line borders.
The Kawase family is famous in Japan as a dynasty of potters. Kawase Chikushun I, the father of the maker of this cover, was designated a ‘Living National Treasure’.
Provenance:
Hakutsuru Museum, Kobe.
Manno Art Museum, Osaka.
Published:
‘Selected Masterpieces of the Manno Collection’, Osaka, 1988, page 164, number 119.