This porcelain rectangular box is covered in an underglaze blue decoration. Cobalt blue decoration on this jar features a group of auspicious motifs known as the 'Three Friends of Winter'. They comprise the pine, the prunus and the bamboo, symbols of long life, beauty and integrity. Here they are represented in the form of characters 'an' ('peace'), 'kang' ('health') and 'shou' ('longevity').Most of Wanli porcelains were blue-and-white wares that included a wide and varied assortment of ceramics. However, the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries saw the deterioration in the quality of Ming porcelain due to huge demands from the imperial court and export trade. Little experimentation occured during this period.
