A very fine large Arita blue and white porcelain 'VOC' dish
Condition: very fine, almost mint
Diam. 36 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, The Netherlands
These dishes, ordered by the VOC during the second half of the 17th century, were copied after the popular Chinese Wanli ‘Kraak’ porcelain. With the war in China between the Ming and Qing, starting in 1644, the source of supply of porcelain from China came to a sudden end, and the Dutch turned to Japan for porcelain in the ‘Kraak’ style. This style is characterised by a central floral and bird motif, surrounded by a radiating segmented border with alternating panels of pomegranates and bamboo. In Arita the VOC ordered these plates with the monogram added, to be used by the company staff in the East and also as diplomatic gifts. After peace was restored in China and the Qing- dynasty firmly established in circa 1700, porcelain was ordered from China again, for Japanese porcelain was too expensive.
Part of the Japan collection.
Related objects
A Japanese Arita blue-and-white porcelain bottle with the initials RW
There is also an Imari bottle with the letters RW inside a simple circle and without the dots between the letters, possibly standing for Rheinland Wine (see: Uit Verre Streken, March 2023, no. 59). R:W, with the dots between the letters and inside a wreath are the initials of a person, in this case probably of Richard Woodward or Richardus Woodwart the younger, ondercoopman, negotieboeckhouder and secunde on Deshima, appointed by opperhoofd Hendrik Dijckman as temporary opperhoofd in Deshima on February 13, 1699, in Dijckman’s place while he himself was on his way to the court to Edo.
A Japanese porcelain undecorated bottle
Few of these blank Japanese bottles survived, either because they were intensively used in the kitchens on Deshima island or on board of ships or, when they arrived safely in Holland, they were sometimes over-painted, mainly in Delft, with European or Chinoiserie scenes.
