A rare underglaze-blue and yellow-enamelled inscribed water coupe, Mark and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　青花黃彩「吉祥平安」水丞　《大明嘉靖年製》款

A Japanese private collection, circa 2000.

The Fame of Flame: Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods, University Museum and Art Gallery, the University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2009, cat. no. 7.

The current vessel is an extremely rare and unusual example of its type and showcases the Jiajing Emperor's deep interest in Daoism and pursuit of harmony and longevity. Surviving water coupes from the Jiajing period are rare, and those known are most often decorated with dragon motifs.

See two related Jiajing period water coupes of similar form and inscribed with the shou (longevity) character in the Taipei Palace Museum, the first decorated in iron red with two dragons (acc. no. guci-14611), and the other in underglaze blue with cranes (acc. no. guci-10699), respectively illustrated in Good Fortune, Long Life, Health, and Peace: A Special Exhibition of Porcelains with Auspicious Designs, Palace Museum, Taipei, 1995, cat. nos 14 and 63. Another iron red 'dragon' example was sold at Christie's Hong Kong, 29th November 2022, lot 2971.

For green-enamelled ‘dragon’ examples without inscriptions, see one preserved in the Beijing Palace Museum (acc. no. gu-144707), included in the exhibition Imperial Porcelains from the Reign of Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli in the Ming Dynasty: A Comparison of Porcelains from the Imperial Kiln Site at Jingdezhen and Imperial Collection of the Palace Museum, vol. 1, Beijing, 2018, pl. 203, and another illustrated on the cover of John Ayers, Chinese Ceramics, The Koger Collection, London, 1985.

來源

日本私人收藏，約2000年

展覽

《爐火純青：嘉靖及萬曆官窯瓷器》，香港大學美術博物館，香港，2009年，編號7

水丞收口，溜肩碩腹，淺圈足。通體施以釉下青花及釉上黃彩，菱形桂花錦地間飾如意形開光，內書「吉祥平安」四字。肩部及近足處飾卷草紋，底書雙圈黃彩雙行六字款。

嘉靖時期水丞多飾龍紋，本品紋飾於嘉靖官窰器中殊為少見，為別具一格之例，尤能反映嘉靖皇帝崇信道教、尚好吉祥紋飾之取向。

暫未見相類水丞之著錄，惟可參考數件造型相近之龍紋例。台北故宮博物院藏一礬紅彩雲龍壽字水丞（館藏編號：故瓷14611），及一青花雲鶴紋壽字帶蓋例（館藏編號：故瓷10699），皆飾開光「壽」字，載於《福壽康寧—吉祥圖案瓷器特展圖錄》，故宮博物院，台北，1995年，圖版14及63。另一礬紅彩雲龍壽字例售於香港佳士得2022年11月29日，編號 2971。再可參考兩件白地綠彩海水雲龍紋例，其一為北京故宮博物院藏（館藏編號：故144707），著錄於《明代嘉靖隆慶萬曆御窰瓷器：景德鎮御窰遺址出土與故宮博物院藏傳世瓷器對比》，卷1，北京，2018年，圖版203；另一件則為 Koger 收藏圖錄之封面，見 John Ayers，《Chinese Ceramics: The Koger Collection》，倫敦，1985年。