JVV 0361
Delft, circa 1670
The blue and white dish has a wide-spreading flange and is painted in the centre with two Chinese figures on a terrace by a pavilion in an oriental garden landscape. A third Chinese is visible in the background. The scene is framed in an octagon. The well and flange are divided into four wide and four narrow panels. The wide panels also feature oriental garden landscapes with one or two Chinese figures. The smaller panels are decorated with a stylised double flower. The outer rim is blue.
Dimensions: diameter 39,5 cm / 15.55 in.
Similar examples
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has a similar, somewhat smaller dish (C.737-1923). Several dishes with oriental landscapes and similar panelled borders can be found in a German private collection (Hebben & Peters, pp. 76-77), but instead Instead of stylised flowers in the border, a floral scroll is applied here. Similar dishes are in the Van Drecht collection (pp. 130-131).
Explanatory note
The decoration is inspired by Chinese porcelain from the transitional period at the end of the Ming and the start of the Qing dynasty. The porcelain of the last Ming emperor Chongzhen (reigned 1628-1644), the first Qing emperor Shunzi (reigned 1644-1662) and the initial period until 1674 of his successor Kangxi (reigned 1662-1722) may have served as examples for this dish. The transition period in China lasted more than 60 years (1620-1683) and was accompanied by much unrest, conflict and war. The Ming dynasty finally fell in 1644, but it took decades before peace returned to China. For example, the porcelain kilns in Jingdezhen, the main porcelain city in China, were destroyed in 1674.
Literature
V. Hebben, I. Peters, Im Glanz des Barock. Fayencen des 17. Und 18. Jahrhunderts. Sammlung Wolfgang und Marie-Luise Posten, Kevelaer 2020
F. Scholten, Dutch majolica & Delftware (1550-1700) from the Edwin van Drecht collection, Amsterdam 1993
