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Jar of baluster shape with slightly inclined neck and rolled lip. Around the shoulder six curved handles in the shape of scaled dragons. The glazed base with a central patch of kiln grit. The sides decorated with a continuous landscape with a duck under a pine amidst flowering shrubs and flying insects, and a pheasant near a flowering prunus with flying insects, a grasshopper and a rocky island beyond. Above the foot an angular petal border, the shoulder with flowering sprays and the neck with ribboned emblems.
This jar is very well-potted, the seam is concealed and the glaze is smooth and clear. Its elegant decoration is a beautiful example of the influence of the wares of Jingdezhen on the Zhangzhou potters. The painting is done in fine outlines and filled in with two shades of pale blue. The design on this Group II jar is closely related to designs on Kraak ware. The lug handles were used for cords that kept the cover in place and for lifting the vessel. A total of six handles is exceptional. A jar of this quality may just have been used as a status symbol. It was collected in Indonesia.
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