A blue and white circular box and cover. Jiajing mark and period

the cover of compressed domed form, painted in vibrant cobalt-blue featuring a large central medallion enclosing peach branches borne on a gnarled trunk forming a stylized shou character, flanked by two lingzhi sprays, the curved sides of the cover and box each with four lobed panels enclosing peach sprays, each section bordered by a keyfret band around the rim, all supported on a slightly tapered foot (2). diameter 8 in., 20.3 cm. Estimate: 12,000—15,000 USD

Provenance: Sotheby's London, 18th June 1985, lot 11.
Thereafter with the present owner.

Notes: A similar Jiajing box of this design but with keyfret bands around the rim, formerly in the Bloxam Collection, and now in in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is illustrated in R. L. Hobson, Chinese Ceramics in Private Collections, London, 1931, pl. 205; a very similar example was sold in our London rooms, 10th July 1979, lot 141 and again in our Hong Kong rooms, 20th November 1984, lot 328.

Sir Harry Garner in Oriental Blue and White, London, 1954, p. 32, notes that motifs decorating Jiajing period ceramics reflect the Daoist beliefs of the emperor: 'A favorite device is the peach tree with its trunk twisted into the form of the symbol of long life (shou).'

Sotheby's. Fine Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art including Chinese and Japanese Art from The Collection of Frieda and Milton Rosenthal. 16 Sep 08. www.sotheby's.com