A VERY LARGE AND RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'SAGES' JAR
Wanli
The jar well-potted with an ovoid body surmounted by a waisted neck with a lipped rim, painted in vibrant tones of cobalt-blue to the exterior with a fenced garden scene enclosing scholars engaging in leisurely pursuits flanked by attendants beside pine trees, bamboo, jagged rocks, large lingzhi and wispy ruyi clouds, all between a band of blossoming lotus and Auspicious Emblems at the shoulder and ruyi lappets at the base.
53cm (20 7/8in) high
Footnotes:
明萬曆 青花高士圖罐

The result of Oxford thermoluminescence test number TL test P123q93 (12 December 2023) is consistent with the dating of this lot.

The present jar is likely based on earlier prototypes of the 15th century, which were often decorated with figures in landscape and garden settings drawn from traditional literature and drama. These jars were notable for the panoramic landscape, which was inspired by contemporary landscape paintings, and the continuity of the scene was achieved by a line of curled clouds in the sky of the main register of decoration; see a blue and white jar, similarly painted with scholars playing weiqi in a garden setting, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures of the Palace Museum. Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red, Hong Kong, 2000, no.3.

Compare with a related but much smaller blue and white jar, Jiajing mark and period, similarly decorated with scholars in a fenced garden, sold at Christie's New York, 17 September 2010, lot 1366.

General surface wear including nicks and some chips to the extremities; hairline crack running from the rim, approx 5cm long; other hairline cracks running from the body; mouth rim probably polished in sections; glaze and firing imperfections, most notably in the form of cracks, the largest around the base.