461 - A BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN JAR WITH MYTHICAL BEASTS, CHINA, LATE MING DYNASTY

A BLUE AND WHITE PORCELAIN JAR WITH MYTHICAL BEASTS, CHINA, LATE MING DYNASTY Dimensions: Height 17,3 cm Wide 23,2 cm Depth 23,2 cm Weight: 2458 grams A broad late-Ming blue-and-white porcelain jar with rounded shoulders, short neck and gently flaring rim, painted with an animated continuous scene of mythical beasts in a rocky landscape. Qilin-like creatures move between swirling clouds, banana leaves, pines and textured ground, their expressive faces and curling bodies rendered in layered cobalt washes. The composition wraps around the vessel without rigid panel divisions, giving the jar a strongly pictorial character. Late Ming porcelain painting often became freer and more narrative than the highly formalised decoration of earlier court wares. Mythical animals, landscape elements and eccentric figures offered painters the opportunity to work almost like ink artists, using shifts in cobalt density to suggest volume, atmosphere and movement. The jar's relatively low, wide proportions suit this continuous scene particularly well. The mythical beasts seem to travel around the body rather than simply decorate it, making the vessel visually engaging from every angle and giving the blue-and-white surface a sense of unfolding narrative.