Jar decorated with dragons and "shou" character for "longevity"

Object Details

• Description

  Blue-and-white. Jar: carved wood stand. Clay: white porcelain, heavily potted. Glaze: colorless, transparent. Decoration: in under-glaze cobalt oxide (blue). Six-character mark on the neck (daming jiajing nianzhi )and two shou 壽 characters included in the design of dragons, crested waves, fungus of longevity, and clouds.

• Marks

  Made in the reign of the Jiajing emperor of the great Ming dynasty (on the jar's neck)

• Inscriptions

  The inscription on the neck is 大明嘉靖年製 Ta ming jiajing nian zhi: "Made in the reign of the Jiajing emperor of the great Ming dynasty."

  The inscription on the neck is 大明嘉靖年製 Ta ming jiajing nian zhi: "Made in the reign of the Jiajing emperor of the great Ming dynasty."

• Label

  This imperial jar with a Jiajing reign mark on the neck was likely used to hold wine; originally it would have had a porcelain cover. Its decoration reflects the Jiajing emperor's attraction to practices aimed at attaining immortality. He commissioned many ceramics from the imperial workshop at Jingdezhen decorated with images of long life. Here, two five-clawed dragons, which are imperial emblems, stride across the jar pursuing a fancifully written character. The word is "shou," which means "longevity." To reinforce the meaning, the two "shou" characters rise out of depictions of sprigs of the "fungus of immortality," said to be an ingredient in elixirs to prolong life.

• Provenance

  To 1945

  Allen J. Mercher, New York. [1]

  From 1945

  Freer Gallery of Art, purchased from Allen J. Mercher, New York. [2]

  Notes:

  [1] Curatorial Remark 1 in the object record.

  [2] See note 1.

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Beyond Paper: Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (August 18, 1994 to July 3, 1997)

  Chinese Art (May 9 to November 29, 1993)

  Chinese Ceramics (April 11, 1978 to September 4, 1980)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1953 (May 26, 1953 to September 15, 1953)

  Untitled Exhibition, Chinese Art, 1947 (October 13, 1947 to May 26, 1953)

  The Peacock Room (May 2, 1923 to February 21, 2011)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Allen J. Mercher

• Origin

  Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Vessel

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1520s, 1560s

• Name

  Mercher, Allen J.

• Place

  China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen

• Topic

  Cobalt pigment, Porcelain, Art, Clear glaze, Chinese Art, Jiajing reign (1522 - 1566), Ceramics, Jingdezhen ware, Ming dynasty (1368 - 1644), Longevity, Dragon

• Culture

  Chinese

• Object Type

  Vessels (containers)