M5557

Good condition, the cover with two inner-rim chips, the jar with inner rim nibbles.

• From a private English collection, Chipping Camden, Gloucestershire, collected in the 1920s by the great-grandparents and thence by descent, and recorded in the 1960s family inventory of the large manor house.
• A similar ovoid jar and cover in the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, Toronto, is illustrated by Patricia F. Ferguson in Cobalt Treasures, The Robert Murray Bell and Anne Walker Bell Collection of Chinese Blue and White Porcelain, Toronto, 2003, no. 32, p. 38, where the author notes “This innovative shape first appeared in the Transitional period during the fall of the Ming dynasty, when the private factories turned to the scholar officials for patronage. The cover and sides are decorated with auspicious beasts in a lush, terraced landscape. “Qilin” were legendary animals with hooves like a goat, which were said to appear in times of peace and harmony. “Xie Zhi”, animals with paws, scaly chests and flaming auras, were reputed to be able to distinguish between good and evil. They were a symbol equated with the imperial censorate, who reported directly to the emperor, maintained law and order, and monitored the bureaucrats”.
• A smaller ovoid dated jar corresponding to 1636, also painted with a seated qilin, gift of Gerald Reitlinger, is illustrated by Jessica Harrison-Hall in Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, London, 2001, no. 12:76, p. 382.
• A pair of covered ovoid jars painted with flowers, butterflies and a kingfisher are illustrated by S. T. Wei and Jean Martin in Chinese Blue and White Ceramics, Singapore, 1978, no. 253/4, pp. 222/3.
• The* qilin* is a fabulous creature with a scaly skin of five colours, the body of a deer, the forehead of a wolf, the tail of an ox and the hooves of a horse. The qilin is benevolent to all living creatures and its single fleshy horn makes the gentle beast unfit for war. It is a symbol of good omen and is reputed to appear only during the reign of a benevolent leader. As a mythical beast, it symbolises longevity, grandeur, felicity, illustrious offspring and wise administration; The peacock, kongque, is a bird of culture whose presence is believed to bring civilisation to the world and is considered to have nine virtues: proper appearance, clear voice, graceful walk, punctuality, restrained appetite, contentment, loyalty, morality and the ability to learn from its faults. These two auspicious creatures are most appropriate for the period, perhaps representing a wish during the tumultuous decline of the Ming dynasty for these virtues and steady leadership to return.