Lot Essay
Commissioned in 1735, 'The Doctors' Visit to the Emperor' is the second design drawn by Cornelis Pronk for the Dutch East India Company, the first being 'La Dame au Parasol' in 1734. Due to the expense of transferring the subject onto porcelain, the volume of Pronk's work is small and only two orders of this design were believed to have been placed: the first was carried to the Netherlands on the Hogersmilde at the end of 1738 followed by the second order in the next year.