A large blue and white 'longevity' double gourd vase, Ming dynasty, Jiajing–Wanli period | 明嘉靖至萬曆　青花壽翁雲鶴紋天圓地方葫蘆瓶

Kochukyo Co., Ltd, Tokyo.

來源

壺中居，東京

The gourd-shaped form and motifs, including immortals, cranes, and shou roundels, reflect the broader Daoist and longevity interests that shaped imperial porcelain production from the Jiajing into the Wanli period. Jingdezhen potters revived early fifteenth-century shapes like the double gourd, not merely as functional vessels, but as potent symbols of the cosmos and eternal fortune.

In Daoist tradition, the gourd (hulu 葫蘆) was viewed as a “miniature universe” or “heaven and earth in one flask,” its phonetic resonance with fulu 福祿 (“fortune and prosperity”) spurring its popularity during the Jiajing and Wanli reigns, when gourd vases flourished in diverse forms, from square, faceted, lobed, hexagonal, and round-over-square forms, such as the present vase, as imagined dwellings for immortals and elixirs of life. Jiangxi sheng dazhi [Great Gazetteer of Jiangxi Province] also notes that gourd-shaped porcelains were commissioned at Jingdezhen on a large scale.

See a similar example, attributed to the Wanli period and decorated with applique Shoulao figures on the upper bulb, sold at Christie’s London, 10th June 1991, lot 189, and again on 9th November 2010, lot 294. Other related large round-over-square gourd vases with Shoulao and longevity motifs include one attributed to the Jiajing period, published in Ming Blue and White: Jiajing-Chongzhen Including Dated Examples, S. Marchant & Son, London, 2004, cat. no. 8, and sold in our New York rooms, 21st September 2005, lot 71. A further example, attributed to the Ming dynasty, is now in the Taipei Palace Museum, acc. no. guci-6487. Another Wanli-period vase, with a neck that appears to have been reduced, is illustrated in Oriental Ceramics: The World’s Great Collections, vol. 3: Museum Pusat, Jakarta, Tokyo, 1982, no. 227.