A rare small Japanese Arita porcelain 'VOC' plate
The centre decorated with the VOC monogram surrounded by ho-oh birds and pomegranate, the rim with floral panels in the Wanli-style.
Diam. 22 cm
This smaller than usual dish is painted in underglaze blue with the VOC (Vereenigde Oost Indische Compagnie) monogram in the centre, surrounded by two “ho-ho” birds and the border with alternating panels of pomegranates and bamboo. The distinctive blue and white plates with the VOC monogram, in the popular Chinese Wanli “Kraak” style were produced in Arita, Japan between 1660 and 1680, during the internal wars in China. The porcelain production at Arita however never was very profitable for the Dutch and when the Qing Dynasty had established itself in China the Dutch and others looked for porcelain in China again. These Arita plates with the VOC monogram for use by Officers of the Company, were ordered by the VOC only once or twice in the early eighties of the 17th century and no more after that period.
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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.