A very rare pair of blue and white 'fish' bowls, Marks and period of Jiajing | 明嘉靖　青花魚藻紋高足盌一對　《大明嘉靖年製》款

One bowl:

Sotheby's London, 9th December 1975, lot 150.

Acquired from the above, and thence in the family collection.

The other bowl:

Acquired in London in the 1990s.

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. 11.

Jiajing bowls of this distinctive high-footed form, combined with the unusual interior placement of the reign mark, are very rare. Only one closely related example appears to have been published: a bowl formerly in the collections of Geoffrey Stevenson and Severance and Greta Millikin, now preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Art, acc. no. 1964.173, which was included in the well-known exhibition Ming Blue-and-White: An Exhibition of Blue-Decorated Porcelain of the Ming Dynasty, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, 1949, cat. no. 115.

The two bowls in the present lot were acquired on separate occasions. One was purchased from our London rooms and thereafter retained in the family collection for nearly five decades, and is now being reunited with its companion, acquired in London in the 1990s, forming a remarkably well-matched pair.

The placement of the reign mark within the interior of the bowl is itself uncommon among Jiajing wares, a feature first introduced during the Yongle reign. Only a handful of related high-footed bowls with a similar placement of the mark are recorded, painted either with dragons or pheasants. Of those decorated with dragons, one was formerly in the Morrill Collection, later in the collection of Robert Chang, and sold at Christie’s New York, 24th March 2004, lot 178; another was from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in these rooms, 19th May 1981, lot 423. Examples painted with pheasants and flowers include one from the collection of Max Müller, sold at Christie’s Hong Kong, 29th November 2024, lot 1304; and another from the Edward T. Chow Collection, sold in these rooms, 25th November 1980, lot 12.

Porcelain decorated with this motif became increasingly popular during the Jiajing reign, as the Emperor, a devout Daoist, favoured designs imbued with auspicious meaning. The four fish form a rebus symbolising conjugal harmony, abundance, and integrity. While such designs are frequently found on cups, dishes, and jars of this period, high-footed bowls of this type remain exceptionally rare.

來源

一盌：

倫敦蘇富比1975年12月9日，編號150

購於上述來源，後經家族傳承

另一盌：

1990年代購於倫敦

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11

本對盌繪荷塘魚藻紋，鯖、鮊、鰱、鱖四魚悠游其間，寓意清白廉潔。魚藻紋亦契合嘉靖帝崇奉道教、崇尚祥瑞意象之風。

傳世嘉靖高足盌尤為罕見，盌心署年款者更為珍稀。迄今所見與本例相若者，僅有一例可資比勘，經 Geoffrey Stevenson、Severance 及 Greta Millikin 伉儷珍藏，後入藏美國克里夫蘭藝術博物館（館藏編號1964.173），該盌曾展覽於1949年美國費城藝術博物館《明代青花瓷》，編號115。

此例之罕，幾無同儕。此外僅見若干相關之例，同爲高足形制及於盌心署款，惟紋飾題材迴異，主紋或作雙龍逐珠，或飾雉鳥花卉。龍紋者可參考一例，經 Morrill 伉儷及張宗憲先生遞藏，售於紐約佳士得2004年3月24日，編號178。飾花鳥者可參考 Max Müller 舊藏一例，售於香港佳士得2024年11月29日，編號1304。仇焱之舊藏亦見龍紋、花鳥兩式，分別釋於香港蘇富比1981年5月19日，編號423，及1980年11月25日，編號12。

本對盌能成雙尤為難得，藏家於不同時期分別得之。其一購自倫敦蘇富比，五十餘載珍藏。另一於1990年代購於倫敦。今兩盌重聚，形制、紋飾、青花發色及款識皆相配成雙，殊為可貴。