Object Type
This type of plate was most commonly used for display, either on the chimney breast or on display shelves. The Dutch used such wares for display in the early 17th century, and English collectors followed suit later in the century.

Materials & Making
The plate is made from porcelain, a substance much coveted for its hardness and translucency. At this period the techniques of porcelain manufacture were unknown in Europe. The method of decoration, too, was novel. The motifs were painted onto the bottle before the glaze was applied. The deep-blue cobalt colouring was a perennial favourite in both China and the West.

Design & Designing
This plate is of a style that was made in great quantities for European customers in the 16th and early 17th centuries. The elements within the design are Chinese, but the manner in which the design is arranged in radiating panels was developed for export wares to the West. Such designs were copied on Islamic pottery, on Dutch delftware and at several European porcelain factories. Recently, a plate decorated in this way was excavated from a tomb belonging to a Ming dynasty prince. This indicates that this export style may have been regarded as foreign and 'exotic' by certain members of the Chinese elite, just as Chinese designs were perceived as exotic in Europe.