The flattened pear-shaped ewer is painted in a brilliant Mohammedan blue with heart-shaped panels on each side, each containing two confronted five-clawed scaly dragons pursuing a sacred pearl. The front and back are painted with storks flying among fruiting peach sprays. The base has a border of stiff leaves, the neck with ruyi heads between rings of cloud and thunder pattern. The cylindrical rim has a key pattern. The loop handle and square S-shaped spout have fruiting peach sprays. The underside is painted in blue with the Jiajing six-character mark within a double ring. This ewer would originally have had a cover.

Literature: Anthony du Boulay, The Duberly Collection of Chinese Art at Winchester College (Winchester, 2019), p. 31

Provenance: Bequeathed as part of the Duberly Collection, 1978; purchased by Major Montagu and Lady Eileen Duberly from the collection of C.M. Woodbridge, sold Sotheby’s, London, 8 May 1951, lot 9 (9 guineas)

Location: Treasury, Gallery 2