Lot 112 A Chinese blue and white 'Magic Fountain' ewer

A Chinese blue and white 'Magic Fountain' ewer

Jiajing

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€ 40.000 – € 80.000

WH: H. 32,1 cm, W. 20,9 cm

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This finely potted blue and white porcelain ewer is another example of the celebrated 'Magic Fountain' type, a distinctive vessel form produced during the Jiajing period. The pear-shaped body is supported on a tall circular foot and rises to a slender neck with an everted rim, set with a tall curved spout and an elegant looping bracket handle. Richly painted in vibrant shades of underglaze cobalt blue, each side of the body is decorated with a fountain issuing streams of water from fantastic animal-head spouts, beneath which a qilin prances. The neck is encircled by a band of upright plantain leaves, while the foot is decorated with crashing waves.
The decoration combines several auspicious motifs associated with longevity and prosperity. The mythical qilin, a symbol of peace, prosperity, and good fortune, is paired with the flowing fountain, creating a composition that would have resonated with the Daoist interests of the Jiajing period. The theme reflects the growing popularity of symbolic decoration on sixteenth-century blue and white porcelain.
The glazed base bears the underglaze-blue Chang Sheng Bu Lao (長生不老) mark, enclosed within a double circle. Translating as 'Everlasting Life and Never Growing Old', the inscription is particularly appropriate to the decoration and reflects the widespread interest in longevity during the Jiajing reign. Such auspicious marks are encountered less frequent and add further significance to the present ewer.
此件青花執壺胎體精細，為嘉靖時期著名的「魔法噴泉」式執壺之一。壺身作梨形，下承高圈足，上接細長頸，口沿外撇，一側置高挑曲流，另一側設秀雅的曲折環柄。通體以鮮麗濃郁的青花繪飾，器身兩面均繪「魔法噴泉」圖，奇獸首形流口噴湧出道道水流，下方一頭麒麟騰躍其間。頸部環飾一周仰蕉葉紋，足部則繪翻湧海水紋。
器身紋飾融合多種與長壽、富貴相關的吉祥題材。麒麟象徵太平、昌盛與福運，與奔流不息的泉水相配，亦契合嘉靖時期崇奉道教、追求長生的風尚，反映了十六世紀青花瓷對象徵性吉祥紋樣的日益重視。
底部施釉，青花雙圈內書「長生不老」四字吉語款，意指生命長久、青春永駐，與器身題材尤為契合，也體現了嘉靖年間對延年益壽的普遍追求。此類吉語款傳世較少，更增添了本壺的珍罕性與文化內涵。
Reference:
Comparable examples are in The Metropolitan Museum, New York, object no. 2023.582 (link), the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, accession no. C.105-1928 (link) and The Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, Turkey, inv. no. TKS15/173 for a near-identical example.
Literature:
Sir Percival David, 'The Magic Fountain in Chinese Ceramic Art: An Exercise in Illustrational Interpretation, Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities', 1952.
J. Ayers, R. Krahl, 'Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul', vol. II, 1986, nos. 1013-1016.
A. Pope, 'Chinese Porcelains from the Ardebil Shrine', 1956, pl. 99.
J. Harrison-Hall, 'Catalogue of Late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum', 2001, p. 221, no. 9:10.
Provenance:
Luis Alegria, Porto, with their label.
The Mr. and Mrs. Baert-Devos Collection, Belgium. Acquired from the above on 31 March 2015, accompanied by a copy of their original invoice. (see added scan)
Exhibited:
TEFAF Maastricht, Luis Alegria, 2015.