Lot 40. An iron-red and green-enamelled dish, mark and period of Jiajing. Estimate HKD 120,000 — 180,000 (13,547 - 20,320 EUR). Lot Sold 775,000 HKD (87,491 EUR). Photo: Sotheby's.

with shallow rounded sides rising from a short tapered foot to a flared rim, the interior pencilled in black and filled with green enamel, depicting four boys in a garden landscape among shrubs and pierced rocks, making a marionette dance to the sound of drum and cymbals, with similar scenes repeated to the exterior as a frieze, all reserved on a rich iron-red ground save for white at the rim and the base, the base inscribed with a six-character reign mark in underglaze blue - 15.3 cm, 6 in.

Provenance: John Sparks Ltd, London, 1967.
Collection of Roger Pilkington (1928-69), from 1967 (£1700, one of a pair).

Literature: Adrian Joseph, Ming Porcelains: Their Origins and Development, London, 1971, pl. 48.

Note: Depictions of children on porcelains became more prolific during the Jiajing reign (1522-66) in response to the Emperor’s wish for many sons. Concern over the continuation of the imperial line was particularly felt at court as no male heir was produced during the first ten years of his reign. The motifs seen on this dish include elements associated with the imperial court, such as the peony sprays growing from rockwork, which had historically been grown at court since the Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties.

A dish decorated with this design was included in the Japan Ceramic Society exhibition Gen Min meihin ten/Exhibition of Yüan and Ming Ceramics, Tokyo, 1956, cat. no. 147; and another from the collections of A. Lundgren and Hans Öström, illustrated in L. Reidemeister, Ming-Porzellane in Schwedischen Sammlungen, Berlin, 1935, pl. 32a, was sold at Christie’s London, 11th July 2006, lot 119.

Sotheby's. The Pilkington Collection of Chinese Art, Hong Kong, 06 Apr 2016