WANLI SIX-CHARACTER MARK WITHIN DOUBLE CIRCLES AND OF THE PERIOD (1573-1619)

The Jiajing version of this design usually depicts the dragons with almost spherical heads and large bulbous eyes, while the Wanli examples, like the current jar, depict the dragons with a traditional reptilian head that is more powerful and in keeping with the dynamic and sinuous body. A jar of about the same size and design is in the Shanghai Museum, illustrated in Mingdai guanyao ciqi, Shanghai, 2007, no. 1-76. A slightly larger jar with similar decoration is in the collection of the Topkapi Saray Museum, illustrated by J. Ayers and R. Krahl in Chinese Ceramics in the Topkapi Saray Museum, Istanbul, vol. II, London, 1986, no. 1328. Another jar of this design is in the collection of the National Museum of History, Taipei, illustrated in Special Exhibition of the National Museum of History's Chinese Ceramic Collection through the Ages, Taipei, 1977, p. 106, no. 90. A slightly smaller example, formerly in the Manno Art Museum, was sold at Christie's London, 1 June 2001, lot 92.