“Wucai” (Five –colour) Glaze Jar with Design of Fish among Plants Ming Jiajing Period (A.D.1522-1566) 

Caliber Width: 19.5cm Height: about 35cm. Abdominal diameter width: about 35cm. The tank depth: about 33.5cm. Foot diameter width: about 23cm. Foot width: about 2cm

Brief Description:  Its shape in keeping with the ceramic manufacturing techniques and glazing materials employed during the Ming Jiajing period, this jar with a design of fish among plants adheres to the style of that time. It has a straight mouth, short neck and top-heavy body. The jar gradually narrows and then flares out again slightly near the base. The lid is shaped like an umbrella with a jewel-like knob on top and a design of two fish swimming on its surface. The jar’s main body features a design of three fish leisurely swimming amongst lotus, duckweed and other aquatic plants. The clay contains a mixture of grey and yellow shades and is of thick composition with rough texture and visible impurities. The points where the pieces of the jar were joined together discernible. The contrastive color composition of the design is intense and lively. The “Wucai” (five-colour) glaze was fired two times; the polychrome pigment was divided into an underglaze and an overglaze. The primary colours used were red, green and yellow. Oftentimes, in a tableau of this kind, red was predominant, green was the secondary colour and yellow provided embellishment. The blue-and-white inscription on the bottom written in Six words are written in regular script using blue-and-white material within a double-lined circle on the base: “Manufactured in the Ming Jiajing Period”. (Source dcl Chinese Antique Research Program 東辰中華古文物事業研究部)