Cer, China, Ming, blue and white

Flat rim, lobed edge, the front painted on the centre with two water-fowls by a pond, one flying and one standing on the shore. Eight panels around the rim, each panel enclosing a floral design which is so sketchily drawn that, apart from the lotus, it is not possible to identify what species they are meant to represent. Within three of the panels a bird, a frog and a moth have been added, all sketchily drawn. The back of the dish is painted with eight wider panels alternating with narrower panels, the wider panels enclosing a lingzhi (magic fungus) or a butterfly.

Seawell bequest

This dish is an example of a mass-produced Chinese porcelain carried to Europe in Dutch ships in the late 16th/early 17th century. By that time Chinese porcelain had become more affordable to European consumers thanks to improved shipping. Orders from Dutch and Protuguese traders happened to arrive at Jingdezhen, the porcelain city in southern China, at a time when patronage from the Chinese court was in drastic decline. Porcelains made for the European market are of a different quality to those made for the Chinese court. The former shows a number of characteristics that make it possible for ceramic historians to study them as a distinct category, under the rubric of 'Kraak porcelain'.
The painted decoration is usually very sketchy, the stock of designs fairly limited. The most common decorative pattern is that of panels enclosing plants or animals. The arrangements of the panels changed with times, enabling ceramic historians to work out a chronology of the production dates of Kraak porcelain. The pattern on the present dish falls within the 'Border IV' group, which is defined as 'equal-sized panels filled with delicate flowers, insects or birds'.
An egret is painted on the base of the dish. Ceramic historians are still unable to come up with a satisfactory explanation for this peculiar symbol. It is not the symbol of a particular kiln, because the wares carrying this symbol are of varying qualities, ranging from coarse to the very fine.
Although Kraak porcelain must have generated much income for China, Chinese records about its production and export hardly exist today. Scholars rely on records of the various East India companies in Europe. Cargoes from several shipwrecks discovered in the 20th century provide additional information about a commodity that had once played an important role in Sino-European trade.

Border IV

This dish is an example of a mass-produced Chinese porcelain carried to Europe in Dutch ships in the late 16th/early 17th century. Porcelains made for the European market are of a different quality to those made for the Chinese court. The painted decoration is usually very sketchy, the stock of designs fairly limited. The most common decorative pattern is that of panels enclosing plants or animals, as on this dish.

C.792-1917