This small blue and white porcelain jar has an ovoid, bulbous body and and a short neck. Double blue lines divide the decoration of scroll and floral designs. It is painted in a underglaze cobalt blue beneath a thick, opaque, greyish white crackled glaze.Zhangzhou wares such as this were commonly known as ‘Swatow ware’ due to the erroneous belief that the ware was shipped out from the port of Zhantou (Swatow). These wares were mainly made for export to Japan and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia. Chinese ceramics were highly prized in these places and were used extensively by the nobility and the elite as status symbols.
