Jar with Immortals, Ming dynasty, Jiajing reign (1522-1566), China, Jiangxi province. Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, qinghua ware. H. 23 1/2 in x Diam. 18 1/2 in, H. 59.7 cm x Diam. 4.7 cm. The Avery Brundage Collection, B60P106. © 2016 Asian Art Museum Chong-Moon Lee Center for Asian Art and Culture.

An immortal landscape scene depicting the longevity god with seventeen attendants amid clouds, rocks, bamboo, and plants places the pictorial elements in a balanced spatial order. The main motif is fringed by fungus scrolls above and lotus panels below. The floating clouds retain the style employed on the representations of the Tianshun period. The tall shape reflects the increased height of such jars since the Zhengde period. It presents the stylistic vocabulary of underglaze-blue ware of the first half of the sixteenth century (WW 1979.8: pl. 7.4).