Porcelain jar with squirrels and gourd vines

A porcelain jar with a lobed body that swells from a short cylindrical neck and tapers inwards towards a flat base. The jar is painted in underglaze blue with a squirrel and gourd vine motif. The decorative band around the bottom of the jar includes three horizontal lines and a formal lotus leaf design. The band of decoration around the shoulder of the jar also comprises a lotus leaf pattern with pointed leaves. A key fret design is painted around the neck of the jar, which extends up towards the lobed rim. The inside and base of the jar are both glazed and undecorated.

•  China experienced an increase in the manufacture and distribution of blue and white ceramics in particular, both internally and externally, during the Wanli period.1 This jar is an interesting example of one of the types of wares that were made around 1600. A very similar jar can be found in the collection of the British Museum.2 It is worth noting that wares similar to this jar retained their appeal after the Wanli period and were desirable for foreign markets. This is supported by the fact that a smaller related example dated to 1643 was recovered from the Hatcher shipwreck, discovered off the South China Sea in 1983.3

1 Harrison Hall, J. Catalogue of late Yuan and Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, British Museum Press, London, 2001, p. 275
2 Harrison Hall, op cit, no. II:38, p. 292
3 Harrison Hall, op cit, p. 360