A very rare blue and white 'fish and lotus' vase, zunJiajing
Of archaistic bronze form of a zun-shaped vase, the body set with vertical flanges on opposite sides, the bulbous mid-section painted in deep and vibrant tones of underglaze blue with a carp swimming amidst lotus plants and water weeds reserved on a ground of finely outlined turbulent waves, the long trumpet-shaped neck similarly decorated with fish swimming up towards the rim, the stepped foot encircled with three bands of lotus, fish and rolling waves, the interior of the neck painted with slender overlapping leaves radiating towards the rim, box. 21.5cm (8 1/2in) high (2).注脚明嘉靖 青花荷塘魚藻紋出戟尊

Provenance:
An American private collection, New York, acquired prior to 1950
Imperial Oriental Art, New York, 1999
Christie's New York, 21 March 2013, lot 1456

來源：
美國紐約私人收藏，蒐集於1950年以前
美國古董商Imperial Oriental Art，紐約，1999年
紐約佳士得，2013年3月21日，拍品編號1456

It is extremely rare to find blue and white vases in the archaistic zun form with decorations of carps swimming among waterweeds, and only one other similar example appears to have been published. See a similarly decorated but slightly larger blue and white zun vase, Jiajing, from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in The Complete Collection of Treasures in the Palace Museum: Blue and White Porcelain with Underglaze Red (II), Hong Kong, 2009, no.92.

The Jiajing emperor was particularly fervent in his Daoist beliefs among the Ming dynasty emperors. He poured large sums of money into the construction of Daoist temples and the performance of Daoist rituals. Following frustration with his ministers and court politics at large, he became an adherent of alchemical Daoism and his overriding concern became the quest for immortality. Self-promoting officials at court were quick to realise that they could advance further up the official hierarchy and stay in favour with the emperor by writing Daoist-style memorials and notes to him. Equally, the emperor's devotion also influenced the court arts of his reign which bore themes associated with Daoism and longevity.

According to the Daoist philosophy, the carp is associated with harmony, advancement and wealth in official life, and fish swimming in ponds creates the pun yu shui he xie which translates as 'may you be as harmonious as fish and water', or jin yu man tang, 'may your hall be filled with gold and jewel'.

Literary reference of the Wanli period such as the Jiangxi sheng da zhi: tao shu [Annals of Jiangxi: Book of Ceramics] also records that on the 30th year of the Jiajing reign, corresponding to 1551, the imperial court dispatched an order for 200 blue and white vessels painted with fish, see Eskenazi Ltd., Two Rare Chinese Porcelain Fish Jars of the 14th and 16th Centuries, London, 2002, p.42.

Such design can also be seen on a number of brushwashers from this reign period, such as one from the National Palace Museum, Taipei, illustrated in Porcelain of the National Palace Museum: Blue-and-White Ware of the Ming Dynasty, vol.5, Hong Kong, 1963, pp.62-63, no.21; and another illustrated in Chinese Porcelain, The S.C. Ko Tianminlou Collection, vol.1, Hong Kong, 1987, no.41; see also a third example from the Falk Collection, which was later sold by Christie's Hong Kong, 28 May 2014, lot 3312.

The elegant form is inspired by the archaic bronze ritual wine vessels of the late Shang and Western Zhou dynasty, which were reproduced in porcelain from as early as the Song dynasty. The imperial archaic bronze collection provided inspiration for the creation of numerous reinterpretations in ceramics according to the contemporary taste as seen in this vase.

See another blue and white vase, Jiajing mark and of the period, of similar form, but decorated with dragon and peony flowers from the Qing Court Collection, illustrated in ibid., Hong Kong, 2009, no.91.

尊撇口，粗長頸，鼓腹，圈足中空外撇。頸、腹、足兩側出戟。青花通景繪蓮塘魚藻紋。內口沿飾蕉葉紋。器形仿古青銅彝器，造型古樸端正。

紋飾以淡色青花描繪水波，再以重色繪荷花游魚，有仿宣德青花之意，但上下通景青花蓮塘魚藻紋，卻為當時御窯的創新，存世之例十分少見。可參考一件北京故宮藏嘉靖青花魚藻紋出戟尊，青花發色較濃，體量略大之，見《故宮博物院藏文物珍品大系青花秞裡紅（中）》，香港，2009年，編號92。器型取自商周青銅觚，以上古銅器之形作瓷器可追溯宋代，北宋徽宗一朝搜羅銅器無數，興起仿古風潮，銅器形制的瓷器應時而生。參考北京故宮藏一件青花穿花龍紋出戟尊，形制和本件拍品相似，見前書，編號91。

嘉靖帝篤行道教，為有明諸帝最狂熱者，投入巨資興建道館以及舉辦醮禮。雖然大臣們一再反對，嘉靖仍然一意孤行追尋他的長生不老術。投機取巧的佞臣投其所好，謳歌黃老，讚美道君，並由此平步青雲。這種風氣下，自然在當朝的藝術作品中也有鮮明的表現。

道教中鯉魚被封為神物，常做仙人坐騎。東晉道教宗師葛洪著《抱朴子・對俗》有言：「夫得道者，上能竦身於雲霄，下能潛泳於川海。是以蕭史偕翔鳳以凌虛，琴高乘朱鯉於深淵，斯其驗也。」魚藻圖則有「魚水和諧」及「金玉滿堂」的吉意。嘉靖在位年間曾多次下令燒造青花魚藻紋器皿，如「二十年...青花白地滿地嬌鯖鮊鯉鱖水藻魚罐兩百...三十年...青花白地外鯖鮊鯉鱖，裏雲鶴花碗二千三百...三十一年...裏青花龍鳳，外荷花魚水藻碗一萬二百，裏青穿花龍邊，外荷花魚水藻甌一萬九千白八百。」見（明）王宗沐纂修，《江西省大志》，卷七，《陶書》，台北，1989年，頁876,881及882。

魚藻紋亦多見於嘉靖青花筆洗，參考台北故宮藏一件嘉靖青花魚藻紋洗，見《故宮藏瓷·明青花瓷·嘉靖》，香港，1963，頁62-63，圖版21；另有一例藏於天民樓，見香港藝術館，《天民樓藏瓷》，卷一，香港，1987年，編號41；福克收藏一例亦資參考，2014年5月28日，售於香港佳士得，拍品編號3312。