A SMALL CIZHOU SLIP PAINTED ‘CIVIL SERVANT’ JARLET, JIN-YUAN DYNASTY
Lot 118 - SING0925

Published: Koos de Jong, Small China: Early Chinese Miniatures, 2021, p. 30, fig. 10, and p. 232-233, fig. 234.

China, Heibei, 1115-1368. The vessel of ovoid form, tapering towards the foot, and surmounted by a short, waisted neck with everted rim. The body painted in dark brown slip with two lobed cartouches, the first depicting a mandarin wearing an official hat and strolling through a landscape with trees, the second decorated with an official servant arriving home to his wife welcoming him, each separated by chrysanthemums and below geometric bands decorating the shoulders, framed by line borders. The recessed base and foot unglazed, revealing the buff ware.

Provenance: E. W. Hendrikse Oriental Art, Amsterdam, 1997. Collection of Dr. Koos de Jong, acquired from the above. A Dutch art historian and collector, Dr. Koos de Jong has worked across several cultural institutions in the Netherlands from 1976, serving as the director of the European Ceramic Work Center in Den Bosch between 1999-2009, before retiring in 2009. He has authored hundreds of articles and several books on Dutch fine and decorative arts from the Middle Ages to the modern era. His scholarly interests expanded to Chinese material culture, culminating in the 2013 publication of Dragon & Horse: Saddle Rugs and Other Horse Tack from China and Beyond, a pioneering study on Chinese equestrian gear. Continuing this line of inquiry, his more recent book published in 2021, Small China: Early Chinese Miniatures, explores the largely overlooked world of Chinese miniature objects, combining archaeological research with art historical insight.
Condition: Very good condition with minor wear, little rubbing, and surface scratches.

Weight: 88.5 g
Dimensions: Height 6.3 cm

With a padded storage box. (2)

The subject most likely derived from a popular theatre play, known as zaju, in which music, singing and spoken texts were combined. The texts of these plays were often printed in woodcuts and accompanied by images, that were copied by painters and used in decorating Cizhou ware. According to Koos de Jong (2021, p. 232), the subject can be interpreted in three ways, first as an allusion to the political situation concerning the distrust between the Mongol rulers and the Han Chinese civil service, second, referring to the pleasures of an honorable and lucrative job as a magistrate, and third, as a symbol for harmony in marriage and fertility. In the last case the jarlet could have been a gift from the parents to the son if he passed the state exam or if he got married.

Literature comparison:
Compare a related, larger, Cizhou painted jar with an official or scholar, 31 cm tall, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, object number 1975.1.1664.