A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'DRAGON' ZHADOU, ZHENGDE MARK AND PERIODChina, 1506-1521. Thepressed globular body rising from a short spreading foot to a broad flaring neck, painted around the exterior with two bands of scaly five-clawed dragons amidst scrolling leafy lotus, the interior of the neck similarly painted, all above a ruyi band at the foot. The recessed base with an underglaze-blue four-character markZhengde nianzhi and of the period.Provenance: Chamberlain Antiques, Amherst, New Hampshire, USA, 2010. An Irish private collection, acquired from the above.Condition: Good condition with old wear, traces of use and shallow surface scratches. Distinctive firing irregularities, including the horizontal seam where the two halves of the zhadou were put together being visible to both the interior and exterior, with several smoothened glaze blisters along the seam to the exterior. The seam between the neck and the vessel has an associated glaze recess on the interior. Minor kiln grit. The foot somewhat smoothened. The edges of the foot burnt to orange in the firing.Weight: 652.2 gDimensions: Diameter 15.4 cm, Height 12.8 cmThe present jar is notable for its delicate yet lively painting of dragons amid a luscious floral scroll, a motif that originated in the early Ming dynasty and was particularly favored at the Zhengde court. The writhing movement of the creature, which captures its auspicious and positive essence, the unctuous glaze, and the well-proportioned body of the vessel are all characteristic of the period.The Zhengde reign marks a transition from the refined porcelain vessels of the preceding Chenghua reign to the bold designs of the Jiajing period. Stylistic changes resulted from the political and social instability created by the excessive power and increasing number of corrupt eunuchs at court. While the Zhengde Emperor was encouraged to live a life of luxury and extravagance away from official duties, eunuchs took control of court administration. This had a profound effect on porcelain production at the Imperial kilns in Jingdezhen: the standard of quality for Imperial porcelain remained exceptionally high and the variety of forms and designs increased, however, production shrank as testified by the small amount of excavated material.The subtle hue of the cobalt blue of these wares as seen on this jar is also noticeably different from the preceding and succeeding reigns, as the material most probably came from local mines. The Ruizhou fuzhi (Annals of Ruizhou prefecture) from 1515 mentions that ‘At Tianzi Hill in Shanggao County [Jiangxi province] there is a nameless stone which is used at Jingdezhen as a painting medium on porcelain’, which suggests that Jiangxi was one source of cobalt pigment (Wang Qingzheng, Qinghua youlihong / Underglaze Blue and Red, Hong Kong, 1987, p. 11).Both the form and decoration of this jar follow early Ming prototypes. The globular