Period:Ming dynasty Production date:1488-1505 (circa)
Materials:stoneware
Technique:glazed, slipped, fahua,
Subjects:eight treasures of buddhism canopy fish immortal lotus shell equestrian
Dimensions:Diameter: 34.50 centimetres Height: 36 centimetres
Description:
Stoneware wine jar with ‘fahua’-type decoration. This heavily potted globular stoneware wine jar has a short neck with a thick rim, rounded shoulders and a flared foot. The designs are outlined in raised slip lines, with applied details such as the men’s faces and hands. Some parts are fired in the biscuit and details are added in black. Other areas are painted white, aubergine and dark blue on a turquoise ground. In some areas the turquoise glaze has chipped, revealing a layer of slip under the glaze over the stoneware body, indicating that the jar was made in north China, probably in Shanxi province. In common with BM Franks.195+, the jar is decorated with a mixture of Buddhist and Daoist iconography, which was popular in the sixteenth century, with designs suggesting a pleasant oblivion from the cares of the mortal world and of success against the odds. Two seated immortals are depicted playing ‘xiangqi’ [Chinese chess], watched by a spectator standing holding a banner. This scene possibly portrays the deities of the north and south poles playing chess together. On the other side of the jar, an official is shown on horseback, accompanied by a parasol bearer and a servant with packages tied to a shoulder pole. This may be Liang Hao (913-1004) who, as a ‘mature student’, came first in the triennial civil service examinations at the age of eighty-four and is consequently a symbol of longevity and scholastic success as well as an emblem of the fact that there will be rewards for patience and perseverance. Inside the ‘ruyi’ cloud collar are the Eight Treasures of Buddhism – the wheel of the law, endless knot, paired fish, lidded jar, lotus, canopy, parasol and conch shell – individually resting on a lotus with streamers. Above is a lappet border and around the neck ‘ruyi’ clouds with further elaborate lappets around the foot. Inside it is glazed, but the base is unglazed.
IMG
![图片[1]-wine-jar BM-1937-0716.94-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Ming dynasty/Ceramics/mid_00272343_001.jpg)
Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:The story tells of a man called Wang Zhi who wandered into the hills to gather firewood and entered a grotto where he saw two old men engaged in a game of chess. After he had observed them for a while, one of the players gave him an object shaped like a date stone, which he put, on instruction, into his mouth. In doing so, he became oblivious to hunger and thirst. Soon the other player suggested that Wang Zhi return home. Thinking that he had been detained only a short time, the wood cutter picked up his axe, which crumbled into dust. Returning home, he discovered that many years had passed and that none of his family remained alive. Divorced from society, he became a Daoist recluse, eventually attaining immortality himself. A similar jar with a different figural scene is in the Shanxi sheng Yuncheng Diqu Museum. Originally the jar would have had a domed overhanging cover.
Materials:stoneware
Technique:glazed, slipped, fahua,
Subjects:eight treasures of buddhism canopy fish immortal lotus shell equestrian
Dimensions:Diameter: 34.50 centimetres Height: 36 centimetres
Description:
Stoneware wine jar with ‘fahua’-type decoration. This heavily potted globular stoneware wine jar has a short neck with a thick rim, rounded shoulders and a flared foot. The designs are outlined in raised slip lines, with applied details such as the men’s faces and hands. Some parts are fired in the biscuit and details are added in black. Other areas are painted white, aubergine and dark blue on a turquoise ground. In some areas the turquoise glaze has chipped, revealing a layer of slip under the glaze over the stoneware body, indicating that the jar was made in north China, probably in Shanxi province. In common with BM Franks.195+, the jar is decorated with a mixture of Buddhist and Daoist iconography, which was popular in the sixteenth century, with designs suggesting a pleasant oblivion from the cares of the mortal world and of success against the odds. Two seated immortals are depicted playing ‘xiangqi’ [Chinese chess], watched by a spectator standing holding a banner. This scene possibly portrays the deities of the north and south poles playing chess together. On the other side of the jar, an official is shown on horseback, accompanied by a parasol bearer and a servant with packages tied to a shoulder pole. This may be Liang Hao (913-1004) who, as a ‘mature student’, came first in the triennial civil service examinations at the age of eighty-four and is consequently a symbol of longevity and scholastic success as well as an emblem of the fact that there will be rewards for patience and perseverance. Inside the ‘ruyi’ cloud collar are the Eight Treasures of Buddhism – the wheel of the law, endless knot, paired fish, lidded jar, lotus, canopy, parasol and conch shell – individually resting on a lotus with streamers. Above is a lappet border and around the neck ‘ruyi’ clouds with further elaborate lappets around the foot. Inside it is glazed, but the base is unglazed.
IMG
Comments:Harrison-Hall 2001:The story tells of a man called Wang Zhi who wandered into the hills to gather firewood and entered a grotto where he saw two old men engaged in a game of chess. After he had observed them for a while, one of the players gave him an object shaped like a date stone, which he put, on instruction, into his mouth. In doing so, he became oblivious to hunger and thirst. Soon the other player suggested that Wang Zhi return home. Thinking that he had been detained only a short time, the wood cutter picked up his axe, which crumbled into dust. Returning home, he discovered that many years had passed and that none of his family remained alive. Divorced from society, he became a Daoist recluse, eventually attaining immortality himself. A similar jar with a different figural scene is in the Shanxi sheng Yuncheng Diqu Museum. Originally the jar would have had a domed overhanging cover.
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