Page 126 - March 22 2022 Bonhams

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A BLUE AND WHITE JARDINIERE
Wanli six-character at the rim and of the period
The tapering straight sides painted in a rich cobalt blue in a
continuous scene around the body with boys at various leisurely
pursuits in a garden setting with rockwork, plantain, pine and other
flora within fenced hillocks and terrace, the boys variously carrying a
lotus leaf parasol, playing weiqi at a table, carrying a vase of coral,
and riding a hobby-horse, all below stylized clouds, the rim with
a band of six auspicious emblems and the Da Ming Wanli nian zhi
mark, the top of the rim flat with scrolling vine decoration, the base
flat and unglazed.
14 1/4in (36.5cm) diam; 8 1/2in (22cm) high

$12,000 - 18,000
明萬曆 青花敞口缸 《大明萬曆年製》款

For a Jiajing-marked blue and white jar, guan, with a version of
the same scene, presumably based on a woodblock original, see
Enlightening Elegance, Imperial Porcelain of the Mid to Late Ming,
The Huaihaitang Collection, Art Museum, The Chinese University of
Hong Kong, 2012, pp. 228-231, no. 58. Like our jardinière, it features
sixteen boys at play in a courtyard with pines, rocks, banana leaves
and fences. One boy is acting as teacher seated before a screen,
whilst another reads at a table and another crawls on his hands and
knees balancing a book on his head. The scene continues around
the body with a boy holding a stick, others watch a cricket fight at
another table, while others play games; one riding a ‘hobby-horse,
another pulled on a wheeled cart, and yet more are shown carrying
objects; a lotus-pad parasol, a vase with a coral or tree branch
and a large fan. The authors also mention a similar jar in the Palace
Museum in Beijing but omit a citation.

Another Jiajing jar, guan, that shares the same scene is illustrated
by Regina Krahl, Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang
Collection,London, 2010, Vol. 4, pp. 178-179, no. 1695.

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