96.
WINE JAR
(GUAN)
STONEWARE WITH CARVED OPENWORK DECORATION,
PAINTED WITH GLAZES OVER BISCUIT IN THE
FAHUA
STYLE
NORTHERN CHINA, PROBABLY SHANXI PROVINCE
MING DYNASTY, LATE 15TH–EARLY 16TH CENTURY
HEIGHT 35 CM; MOUTH DIAMETER 18.5 CM;
BASE DIAMETER 22.5 CM
INV. NO. 375
Heavily potted stoneware wine jar with
globular body, short neck tapering towards
the everted lipped rim, the openwork outer
wall joined to the inner wall at the neck, on a
flared foot and covered in green glaze on the
inside and on the base. Decorated with lead-
alkaline glazes in the
fahua
palette,
turquoise being the predominant colour,
while deep blue, aubergine, yellow and white
highlight the decorative motifs.
The main decoration is a scene inspired by
the Daoist pantheon, carved in relief on a
turquoise openwork background, a network
of pierced holes dotted with aubergine
representing clouds and uneven ground.
Shoulao, the god of longevity, with his
characteristic large elongated skull, marked
by a half moon with halo, is seated beneath a
pine tree on a large
lingzhi
fungus that also
protects a crane. He is wearing a deep blue
gown and holding the scroll of the law in his
left hand; to his left a reclining deer, to his
right smoke rises from a yellow censer on an
aubergine-coloured three-legged table.
A procession of the Eight Immortals
approaches from the right, each Immortal
easily identified by his attributes. The first
pair represents Li Tieguai, with his iron staff
and an aubergine, yellow and turquoise
gourd, and He Xiangu, wearing a dark blue
gown and carrying a lotus blossom over his
shoulder, a crane flying above them. They are
followed by Zhongli Quan, the leader of the
group, his hair arranged in two top knots,
one over each temple, wearing an open
aubergine-coloured gown, revealing his
prominent stomach, which has been left in
the biscuit, and Lü Dongbin, in a yellow
gown, with the ‘dagger to attack demons’ on
his back. The remaining four Immortals are
closer to the ‘clouded mountains’, separated
from the other four by two pine trees with
long branches and elaborate needles: Zhang
Guolao with a
yugu
, a musical instrument
made of bamboo; Han Xiangzhi wearing a
yellow gown with leaves hanging from his
belt, playing a flute; Cao Guoji, majestically
dressed in dark blue and carrying castanets;
bringing up the rear is Lan Caihe, dressed in
yellow and aubergine, carrying a basket of
flowers. All the heads and part of the bodies
were left in the biscuit.
Around the foot of the jar an openwork band
of petal-shaped panels carved with inverted
lotus buds in turquoise, aubergine and
yellow. On the shoulder a band with peony
flowers in shades of yellow, white and
aubergine, with turquoise and dark blue
foliage. Around the neck slip trailed clouds;
around the shoulder a band of spiralling
leaves, all in shades of yellow, white and
aubergine.
There are similar jars in several collections:
the Idemitsu Museum of Arts, Tokyo, has an
example with a lid; 1 the Asian Art Museum
of San Francisco, from the Avery Brundage
Collection; 2 the City Art Gallery, Bristol, from
the former George Eumorfopoulos
Collection; 3 the Royal Ontario Museum,
Toronto; 4 the Anthony de Rothschild
Collection; 5 and the former collections of
Leonard Gow 6 and William Bennett 7 and in
the Wannieck Collection. 7 He Ling illustrates
a jar identical to this example. 8
1 Idemitsu Museum of Arts, 1981, p. 208, no. 891.
2 Argencé, 1967, pp. 130–31, pl. LX, A.
3 Hobson and Hetherington, 1923, pl. CXI; Hobson, 1927,
pp. 167 and 30, pl. XXX, fig. D.; Krahl, 1996, p. 146,
no. 82.
4 Trubner, 1968, fig. 87.
5 Krahl, ibid
.
6 Hobson, 1931, p. 1, pl. VIII, no. 3.
7 Sotheby’s, New York, 20 September 2000, no. 103,
p. 75.
8 Li, 1996, pp. 240–41, 488.
236 .
PORCELAIN OF THE YUAN (1279-1368) AND MING (1368-1644) DYNASTIES