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Lot Essay
The decoration of this jar, especially the depiction of the twelve musical instruments, is very rare. The twelve instruments depicted on this jar in counterclockwise order are: qin, pan pipes, drum, two-ended gong, xiao, hand drum in the top row; sheng, flute, se, chime, castanets, waist drum in the lower row.
A jar of this form and decoration but with the twelve musical instruments arranged in a slightly different order is in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, no.9:108, where the author explains that these instruments are traditional Chinese musical instruments whose origin may be traced to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and that they represent the Bayin, ‘Eight Classes or Sounds’ of instrument – stone, metal, silk, bamboo, wood, skin, gourd and earth. The author makes a further remark on the importance of musical rites at the Ming imperial court.
A jar of this form and decoration but with the twelve musical instruments arranged in a slightly different order is in the British Museum, illustrated in Jessica Harrison-Hall, Ming Ceramics, London, 2001, no.9:108, where the author explains that these instruments are traditional Chinese musical instruments whose origin may be traced to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, and that they represent the Bayin, ‘Eight Classes or Sounds’ of instrument – stone, metal, silk, bamboo, wood, skin, gourd and earth. The author makes a further remark on the importance of musical rites at the Ming imperial court.