Famille Rose Ginger Jar with Boys at Play

During the 18th century, Europeans provided an eager market for Chinese export porcelain, especially the colorful and fanciful ware known as “famille rose.” Named for a palette of opaque overglaze enamels that favored roses and pinks, famille rose porcelain ware was crafted with the same technical virtuosity as imperial porcelain but designed for Western tastes.

This round ginger jar is decorated with a lively scene of boys at play in a garden. A popular theme in Chinese decorative arts, this scene conveys a wish for many successful sons. Many of the boys carry objects with auspicious meaning - a halberd for happiness and a vase of lotus blossoms for harmony, among others. Loosely enameled with bold colors, the jar is unusual in that the faces were left undecorated, possibly an example of an incomplete work.

From the collection of Frances and Gary Comer.

A wooden lid replaces the lost original.