GOLDEN CARP

de Gournay’s Wucai Jar is painted with underglaze blue and bright polychrome enamels in a continuous frieze showing golden carp swimming amongst aquatic plants including vibrant yellow and iron-red lotus blossoms in the style of the Jingdezhen ware made for the Jaijing Ming Emperor (1522-1566). The emperor was a staunch supporter of Daioism. As a result, aesthetic of the period is filled with Daoist iconography such as cranes, deities, symbols of immortality, which was in complete contrast to the ritualised formality that was the daily life of the Emperor. The term Wucai literally means five colours, but in the antiques that inspired this jar the golden orange used on the body of the carp is a 6th colour. The strong underglaze blue that forms one of the Wucai colours is characteristically applied in bold washes to complement vigorous splashes of strong overglaze colours. Where in the similar Doucai palette, a soft underglaze blue was employed mainly for finer outlines that lay the groundwork for elegant little washes of pale enamel colours. Similar jars, some with and others without cover, are preserved in the Shanghai Museum and the Walters Art Collection in Baltimore, USA.