A MASSIVE AND RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE BOYS JAR
明嘉靖 青花十六子戲春圖大罐
A MASSIVE AND RARE CHINESE BLUE AND WHITE BOYS JAR, GUAN
SIX CHARACTER JIAJING MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE AND OF THE PERIOD 1522-66
The baluster body vividly painted with a continuous garden landscape of plantain and pine trees amongst rocks and grass, with sixteen boys at play, one riding a hobby horse whilst being sheltered by a lotus leaf held by another, a group simulating school lessons before a screen beside a single boy pulling a small toy on a string, another small group playing with a cart, one holding a fan, three further boys at a table concentrating intently on a game, all above a band of overlapping lotus leaf lappets to the base, the shoulder with a band of shaped cartouches containing sprays of flowering and fruiting branches, all reserved on a cell ground divided by auspicious symbols, 38.8cm.
Provenance: an English private collection. Christie's London, 8th June 1987, lot 151.
Cf. The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum, Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), pp.110-111, no.101, where a comparable jar with a cover is illustrated; see also J Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, pp.237-8, no.9:50 for an example from the Mrs Alfred Clark collection.
This auspicious subject of boys at play represents a wish for an abundance of male descendants and the continuing performance of filial duties. It can also be linked to the 'hundred boys' decoration, which refers to Zhou Wenwang, the founder of the Zhou dynasty who was blessed with ninety-nine sons by his twenty-four wives, as well as an adopted son.
《大明嘉靖年製》
來源：英國私人收藏，
倫敦佳士得 1987年6月8日編號·151
大罐厚唇口，短頸，豐肩，鼓腹下斂，圈足。 該器器型宏大，佈局考究，整器均以青花為飾，肩部施卍字錦地開光折枝花卉紋，足墻為蓮瓣紋。器身通景繪《十六子戲春圖》，嬰戲百樣，三三兩兩相簇，或嬉戲玩耍，苦讀詩書，拜先生、斗蟋蟀、騎竹馬、拖車、結花燈等等；孩童面目飽滿，衣著繪畫細緻，動靜相宜，文武皆備，生動傳神，甚是活靈活現。底青花書“大明嘉靖年製”楷書款。此罐與北京故宮博物院所藏的嬰戲蓋罐紀委相似，詳見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系——青花釉里紅》（中）頁110-111，圖101。Mr Alfred Clark的收藏也有一件類似藏品，見J Harrison-Hall，Ming Ceramics in the British Museum, 頁237-8, 編號9:50。
嬰戲圖即描繪兒童遊戲時的畫作，是中國人物畫的一種，以表現童真為主要目的，所以畫面豐富，形態有趣。嬰戲圖最早可以追溯到唐代長沙窯，從簡單的一兩個兒童嬉戲發展到百多個小童，嬰戲圖的發展反映了當時封建社會對於傳宗接代的觀念深入人心。嬰戲圖為嘉靖瓷器主要紋飾之一，多繪為十六子，其典出《左傳》，後用為稱頌皇帝的輔政大臣。
此罐製于嘉靖時期，青花以回青作為原料，色調鮮艷明亮。胎厚，釉色豐腴瑩潤，尤具嘉靖青花的時代特色。畫師畫法古樸而生動，層次豐富而不凌亂，展嘉靖製瓷一時之貌，為當時御窯之佳品。
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