Held in a German family collection for a century and removed to safety during the Second World War, an exceptional pair of ‘wucai’ (‘five enamel’) 'Fish' jars, Jiajing reign (1522-1566). Estimate £600,000-1 million. Courtesy Sotheby's.

LONDON.- This autumn, Sotheby’s will offer a pair of extraordinarily rare 16th-century Ming dynasty Chinese ‘fish jars’ made for the Jiajing Emperor, marking the first ever appearance at auction of a complete pair with covers. Only one other such pair is known to be preserved, now held in the Musée Guimet in Paris, and only three single jars in private hands are known to have retained their covers. Estimated at £600,000 -1,000,000, the fish jars are the star lot of Sotheby’s Chinese Art sale in London on 6 November 2024. Their appearance also marks the first time in seven years since a single jar came onto the market, at the time causing a sensation and selling for HK$213,850,000 (US$27.5m / £20.4m).

The exceptional ‘wucai’ (‘five enamel’) porcelain vessels are coming to auction from a German family collection, where they have remained for about a century, if not longer. Their survival is nothing short of miraculous, as the jars were removed to safety together with the family’s art collection during the Second World War, before the family home in Wiesbaden was destroyed. A photograph illustrated in a German art and interiors magazine published in 1926 shows the pair on display in the ‘Ladies room’; the pair can be seen again in the family living room in an article on the villa after it was rebuilt, dating from the early 1950s.

Gordon Lo, Head of Sotheby’s Chinese Art sale in London, said: “We feel fortunate to be able to offer this gem of a pair of Jiajing ‘fish jars’ that has remained hidden from view for a century. With no other complete pair ever having come to auction, their appearance is set to send a ripple of excitement amongst collectors.”

‘Fish jars’ made during the Jiajing Emperor’s reign (1522 to 1566) were the result of a major breakthrough in the possibilies of porcelain production, when the craftsmen in the Imperial kilns attained new heights. Polychrome-decorated porcelain was not new in the Jiajing reign, but the kilns at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, had never achieved anything approaching the grandeur of the ‘fish jars’ produced during this period.

Potters and painters working for the Emperor knew how to evoke the calm that he strove to achieve as he retreated from the political turmoil of the Forbidden City to imperial gardens further west and newly-built palace halls. Ceramics were commissioned on an unprecedented scale to decorate these buildings, though the exact function of these jars in the Emperor’s palace is unknown.

The Emperor was a devout Daoist, and fish as an image of freedom from restraints played an important part in Daoist thought – they were considered symbols of a happy, carefree life in tune with nature, which for the most part was far from the reality experienced by the Chinese emperor.

The transparent waters on the jars follow the quiet movement of golden carp through colourful ponds, amongst a rich flora of lotus and other plants swaying in tune, to soothing effect. The striking golden-orange enamel colour was developed by the imperial potters to do justice to the appearance of China’s beloved golden carp. An invention of the Jiajing potters, and peculiar to that period, the application of iron red over an already fired yellow enamel made the working procedure laborious. Black pigment was judiciously used for rendering outlines and details, as well as the fishes’ distinct eyes. More remarkable, however, is its subtle employment to indicate the lateral line of the carp, a line of pored scales that runs midway across their bodies and represents a sensory system vital to their orientation and detection of movement. Such detailed observation of nature is not found on earlier painted Chinese porcelains.

Photograph showing the jars in-situ in 1926, published in Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration Wohnungskunt, Malerei, Plastik, Architektur, Gärtem, Künstlerische, Frauen, Arbeiten, Haus Rosselhöh in Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, 1926.