Lot 29. A rare small red and yellow-enamelled 'Buddhist lion' jar, Ming dynasty, Jiajing six-character mark in underglaze blue and of the period (1522-1566). Hauteur : 14,2 cm, socle en zitan. Vendu : EUR 12,600(Estimation : EUR 20,000 – EUR 30,000). © Christie's Images Ltd 2023

Provenance: Previously from a Japanese private collection.

Note: The red and yellow combination is a distinctive colour scheme of the Jiajing period. The result required three firings: first at around 1300 °C for clear-glazed porcelain, then at a lower temperature for the yellow overglaze enamel, and finally at a still lower temperature for the black outlines and the iron-red background. The process was laborious and required meticulous attention to details, contributing to the high failure rate and thus the rarity of these jars.
The theme of gamboling Buddhist lions is frequently seen on late Ming ceramics but almost never on this type of red and yellow jars which often depict dragons. Compare two dishes in the British Museum decorated with Buddhist lions, decorated in green enamel on an iron-red ground, illustrated by J. Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, p. 256, nos. 9:95 and 9:96.