A pair of massive blue and white 'dragon' jars and covers, Marks and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　青花雲龍供壽紋蓋罐一對　《大明嘉靖年製》款

A Japanese private collection.

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

5th Anniversary Exhibition. All-Stars of the Okada Collection: Masterworks of Korin, Jakuchu, Hokusai and the Ru Ware Kilns, Okada Museum of Art, Hakone, 2018-19, exh. nos 3 and 6 (unillustrated).

Ryoichi Fujioka and Gakuji Hasebe, Ceramic Art of the World, vol. 14: Ming dynasty, Tokyo, 1976, pl. 212 (one of the pair).

Kobayashi Tadashi, ed., Masterpieces of the Okada Museum of Art, vol. 1, Tokyo, 2013, no. 29 (one of the pair).

Towering at impressive dimensions and featuring a striking design of ferocious five-clawed dragons amidst dense lotus scrolls, the pair epitomises the pinnacle of imperial craftsmanship during 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.

There seem to have been no other pairs of jars and covers of such massive size recorded in private or public collections, making this example exceptionally rare. Jiajing jars of such extraordinary size and design still retaining their cover are rare and very seldom come to market. Compare similar covered single jars preserved in the world’s most important collections, including: a slightly smaller (54.2 cm) example in 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, Geneva, 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

日本私人收藏

壺中居，東京

展覽

《開館5周年記念展―美のスターたち―光琳．若冲．北斎．汝窯など名品勢ぞろい》， 岡田美術館，箱根，2018-19年，展覽編號3及6（沒載圖）

出版

藤岡了一及長谷部楽爾，《世界陶磁全集》，卷14：明，東京，1976年，圖版212（其一）

小林忠編，《岡田美術館名品撰》，卷1，東京，2013年，編號29（其一）

此對罐不僅體量巨大，且以氣勢磅礴的五爪龍紋及的纏枝蓮花紋裝飾，堪稱嘉靖御窰瓷器工藝的巔峰之作。在長達四十六年的動盪統治中，世宗皇帝面臨北方入侵、政治紛亂及多次行刺威脅。在外患壓力下，皇帝選擇遠離紫禁城的紛擾，皈依道教，並開始追求長生不老的理想，此舉在無意間改變了中國藝術史的進程。為了裝飾北京的新皇家御苑及道觀，嘉靖朝廷訂製大量瓷器，甚至需要景德鎮鄰近的民窰協助燒造，由此催生了充滿創意的瓷器燒造熱潮，這一繁榮在此前的弘治及正德朝無法企及。

目前在公立或其他私人收藏中，尚未見記錄中有如此巨大且完整成對的蓋罐。完整保存蓋子的嘉靖罐本已屬罕見，尤其此類超大體量更是難得一見。可參考現存於全球重要收藏中的單件例子，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。