Jar

1522–66

Jar, 1522–66. China, Jiangxi province, Jingdezhen kilns, Ming dynasty (1368-1644), Jiajing mark and reign (1522-66). Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration; overall: 34.6 cm (13 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Worcester R. Warner Collection 1917.13 The jar is painted with vibrant underglaze cobalt blue depicting the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official.

In the first scene, a scholar leaves his home in spring hoping to pass the civil service examinations in the city. In the autumn scene, he successfully returns on a horse, prepared for a career at court. The summer scene shows him as an aged man watching his offspring play along a lake. The winter scene depicts him writing while attendants offer him hot tea and break the ice for fresh water from the pond in the foreground. The jar with brilliant cobalt blue decoration depicts the four seasons and stages in the life of a scholar-official.