An ovoid-shaped Chinese Ming period porcelain jar painted in rich blue around the sides with two five-clawed dragons among clouds and with rocks and waves below. Round the shoulder a stylised shou (long life character) seems to grow out of the lotus scroll foliage. A glazed recess in the centre of the base contains the six-character reign-mark 'Made in the reign of the Jiajing emperor of the Great Ming’.

This time-worn piece is the earliest example of Ming blue-and-white porcelain surviving in the Collection, and is notable for its five-clawed imperial dragon decoration and for having the reign-mark inscribed, somewhat unusually for this type of jar, on the base rather than the shoulder.

The reign mark reads: 大明嘉靖年製
Da Ming Jiajing nian zhi ('Made in the reign of the Jiajing emperor of the Great Ming')

Text adapted from Chinese and Japanese Works of Art in the Collection of Her Majesty The Queen: Volume I.