A rare large Japanese Arita blue and white porcelain 'V.O.C' dish
Decorated in 'kraak' style, with a central motif of phoenixes and flowers surrounding the V.O.C. monogram, the border with enclosed pomegranates and bamboo.
Diam. 36.2 cm
The porcelain the Dutch ordered in Japan during the second half of the 17th century was copied after the popular Chinese Wanli “Kraak” porcelain. With the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 the source of supply of Wanli porcelain came to an end and the Dutch turned to Japan, where they had a small trading post on the artificial island of Deshima in the bay of Nagasaki, for porcelain in the typical “Kraak” style. In Japan the VOC monogram was added in the centre. These dishes were ordered by the High Government in Batavia from 1668 till about 1720 in the various kiln-sites in Japan, as an early form of in-house corporate promotion at the tables of high-ranking Company employees at the factories of the VOC in the East. Some were probably exported for use in the VOC Chambers in the Netherlands as well.
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A pink, yellow and green enamelled porcelain VOC teapot and saucer
A pink, yellow and green enamelled porcelain VOC plate
Executed in rose-pink, yellow, and soft blue-green enamels, this design follows a silver ducatoon of 1728 in almost every aspect, with even the rim of the plate imitating the ribbed milling of the coin. On a shield is a crowned rampant lion, holding in his left paw a bunch of seven arrows symbolising the seven provinces of the United Netherlands, and in his right paw, a sword is shown supported by two crowned rampant lions. Below the shield is the monogram of the VOC, the Dutch East India Company, above the date 1728, and around it is the heraldic motto of the Dutch Republic CONCORDIA RES PARVAE CRESCUNT (by unity small things grow). The first ducatoon, or zilveren rijder, on which the design of this plate was based, arrived in Canton, China, on the 2nd of August 1729 with the Coxhorn, the first VOC ship to sail straight to Canton and not by way of Batavia. It arrived in Amsterdam in 1730 with the ordered porcelain in this design. This is an early example of the so-called Chine de Commande porcelain. Although the Cantonese artists had a zilveren rijder as an example, they didn’t really understand the design, giving the lions grimacing human faces and cape-like manes. They also didn’t understand the Latin letters, since the R ends truncated, the V is an inverted A, and the E looks more like a Chinese character. The only Chinese porcelain known with this design is a tea set, comprising cup-and-saucers and a theapot. For a cup and saucer, see: Uit Verre Streken, June 2017, no. 49. The Dutch likely took a cup-and-saucer from China to Japan, ordering larger plates like the one present. Until recently, these plates were attributed to Chinese kilns, but they are more likely Japanese. This solves the debate on whether these dishes are modern Chinese forgeries. One has been found in an old Japanese collection and is listed in a catalogue, which makes the latter impossible. The enamel's hues and the porcelain's colour are, indeed, more Japanese than Chinese.
A Japanese Ko-imari porcelain 'VOC' dish
Arita, Edo period, first half 19th century Decorated in blue and iron-red under glaze with in the center the VOC monogram in gold. The bottom with imitation Chinese Ming Dynasty Chenghua marks, 'Great Ming Chenghua period mark'. Diam. 21.2 cm Dishes like the one present were very expensive souvenirs for wealthy Japanese domestic tourists who visited Nagasaki to get a glimpse of the Dutch on Deshima. The design of this particular dish is unknown, and it is possibly unique.