63.
A POLYCHROME ENAMELLED JAR
Qing dynasty, circa 1660-1670
28,2 cm high
Provenance: Naples, Villa della Floridiana, Museo Duca di Martina, Placido de Sangro (1829-1891).
inv. n. 4872.
The jar is decorated round the main register with boys holding lotus sprays amidst a dense foliate lotus scroll, between bands of ruyi-head lappets reserved against pearl diaper ground, with a speckled red border above the foot and a classic scroll around the shoulders, the neck with a further border of ruyi-heads.
The design of boy and flowers can be seen as early as the Song dynasty; see a Yaozhou glazed bowl decorated with boys and flowers, 11th-12th century, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. n. 11.8.7). This design continued throughout the Yuan and Ming period.
The word lotus is a pun for “continuous” (lian) and the boy symbolises the wish for a son. Together, they represent the blessing of continuously giving birth to distinguished sons (liansheng guizi).
The ruyi represents the wish for long life due to its similarly to the lingzhi fungus of immortality; it is also a homophone for “as you wish”, thus further imparting the auspicious wishes.
A similar speckled red border can be seen on a polychrome enamelled jar and cover, early Kangxi, in the Grandidier Collection in the Musée Guimet, Paris (inv. n. G 4377).
