Jardiniere
Category
Ceramics
Date
C. 1426 - 1435
Materials
Hard paste porcelain decorated with underglaze blue and overglaze iron red.
Measurements
210 mm (Height); 435 mm (Diameter)
Place of origin
Jingdezhen
Order this imageCollection
Basildon Park, Berkshire
NT 266469
Summary
Jardinière, hard paste porcelain, round with slightly bulging sides, an everted rim with a lobed and pointed edge and a foot in the form of a moulded stand, with a cross mark on the underside of the foot, made at Jingdezhen, Jiangxi province, China, Xuande period (1426–35). Painted in underglaze blue (‘heaped and piled’ in various shades of blue) with a continuous foliate scroll around the sides bearing chrysanthemum blossoms flanked by two linear borders, a Xuande six-character reign mark under the rim, with flower sprays on the rim and with conjoined ruyi scrolls (i.e. in the shape of the lobed and pointed finial of a ruyi sceptre) around the foot, and with the background areas on the exterior painted in iron red.
Full description
Until around the mid-fifteenth century cobalt blue was imported into China from Persia. As it often had a high iron content, when fired the iron spots would darken, which is known as the ‘heaping and piling’ effect. Typical for Ming porcelain is that the border area between the glaze and the unglazed biscuit of the porcelain turns orange when fired, something that can be seen around the edge of the foot of this jardinière. The unglazed foot has a cross mark, typical for large porcelains of this period, left by the setter on which it was placed during the firing in the kiln. The foot imitates the form of a wooden stand on which flowerpots would be placed. A very similar jardinière, with a provenance from the Japanese diplomat and collector Suma Yakichirō (1892–1970), was sold at auction at Christie’s, Hong Kong, on 29 May 2019, lot 3103. (Emile de Bruijn, with grateful acknowledgement of the assistance of Rachel and Asaph Hyman, January 2024)
Provenance
Donated to the National Trust by Edward Langton Iliffe, 2nd Baron Iliffe of Yattendon (1908-96), 1978.
Marks and inscriptions
Xuande six character mark in a rectangular label under the rim