A rare and large 'fahua' 'Bajixiang and dignitaries' jar and cover, guan

First half of the 16th century

First half of the 16th century
Of compressed globular form, the central band decorated with scholars on horseback followed by a boy-attendant carrying a qin, amid gnarled pine trees, clouds and rocks, all between the Eight Buddhist Emblems on the shoulder and a band of lappets around the waisted base, all picked out in white, purple and turquoise on a dark blue ground. 44cm (17 1/4in) high (2).

??????? ????????????

The present jar is a classic example of the vibrant Fahua-decorated vessels manufactured at Jingdezhen during the mid Ming period. These wares were produced using raised slip lines to produce small areas in which differently coloured, low-fired, glazes could be applied. Fahua vessels were usually decorated with detailed designs of figures which would have been more time-consuming to make than large-scale simplified floral motifs.

Compare with a similarly decorated turquoise-glazed Fahua jar, circa 1500, in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Musuem, illustrated by J.Ayers, Far Eastern Ceramics in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1980, no.55. Another example, decorated with the Eight Immortals on a turquoise-glazed ground, is in the Freer Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., acc.no.F1907.75. Finally, a turquoise-glazed Fahua jar, Ming dynasty, decorated with figures on horseback, was sold at Sotheby's New York, 2 March 2011, lot 99.