Provenance
Sotheby's London, 7-8 June 2000, 'Chinese Export Porcelain and Chinese and Japanese Works of Art', lot 367.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The collection of Dr. Lowell S. Young, San Francisco, collection no. 22. Acquired from the above on 4 October 2004.
Marchant, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 7 November 2012 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited and illustrated:
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their November 2004 exhibition of 'Ming Blue and White: Jiajing - Chongzhen Including Datex Examples' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, p. 7, no. 5.
Marchant, London, included in their November 2012 exhibition of 'The Dr. Lowell Young Collection. Ming & Qing Blue and White Porcelain', and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 4-5, no. 1. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. II, p. 94, fig 1148.
Description
This finely potted bowl is of deep, rounded form with a gently flaring rim supported on a short, tapering foot encircled by double-line borders. The exterior is richly decorated in underglaze blue with four fish swimming amidst lotus blossoms, leaves, arrowhead plants, and aquatic grasses, all enclosed between double-line borders. The fish comprise a carp (li), mackerel (qing), cultermongolicus (bai), hypophthalmichthys (lian), and mandarin fish (jue), each painted with animated movement among luxuriant aquatic vegetation. A single carp, surrounded by waves and water plants, occupies the medallion at the centre of the interior, also enclosed within a double-circle border. Double-line bands are repeated beneath the rim and around the foot.
The decoration exemplifies the sophisticated symbolic language of Jiajing-period imperial porcelain. The names of the four fish on the exterior form rebuses for the virtues qing (purity), bai (whiteness or integrity), lian (honesty), and jue (incorruptibility). Together with the homophonic association of yu (fish) and yu (abundance or surplus), the design conveys auspicious wishes for moral virtue, prosperity, and abundance.
The pair to this bowl, from the collection of Sir Esler Dening, G.C.M.G., was sold by Sotheby's London, 23 May 1972, lot 139.
Reference:
A quasi identical example was included in the 2009-2010 exhibition 'The Fame of Flame. Imperial Wares of the Jiajing and Wanli Periods', University Museum and Art Gallery, The University of Hong Kong, and illustrated in the eponymous catalogue, pp. 78-79
Lot 123
Jiajing mark and of the period
Dia.: 13,6 cm - H.: 6,8 cm
Estimation
€ 30.000,00 – € 60.000,00
Provenance
Sotheby's London, 7-8 June 2000, 'Chinese Export Porcelain and Chinese and Japanese Works of Art', lot 367.
S. Marchant & Son, London, with their label to the base.
The collection of Dr. Lowell S. Young, San Francisco, collection no. 22. Acquired from the above on 4 October 2004.
Marchant, London, with their label to the base.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 7 November 2012 and accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited and illustrated:
S. Marchant & Son, London, included in their November 2004 exhibition of 'Ming Blue and White: Jiajing - Chongzhen Including Datex Examples' and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, p. 7, no. 5.
Marchant, London, included in their November 2012 exhibition of 'The Dr. Lowell Young Collection. Ming & Qing Blue and White Porcelain', and illustrated in the accompanying catalogue, pp. 4-5, no. 1. Also illustrated in their 2025 publication 'One Hundred Years', Vol. II, p. 94, fig 1148.