A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'DOCTOR'S VISIT' DISH

Details

A RARE BLUE AND WHITE 'DOCTOR'S VISIT' DISH
CIRCA 1737-38

After a design for the V.O.C. by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk, showing four robed Chinese figures seated in a garden, a low table before them holding a kraak porselein dish, a peacock perched on a lattice fence at the side calling to a hawk who bends down from an overhanging blossoming branch, all within a wide border with six cartouches of fish between vignettes of waterbirds standing on marshy mounds, the reverse with a collar of diaper-filled lappets, very slight wear
12 7/8in. (32.7cm.)

Lot Essay

Believed to be the second of the four official designs by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk for the Dutch East India Company, the 'Doctor's Visit to the Emperor' was sent to Canton in 1736, only arriving late in 1737. Jorg relates the subject to Ming representations of the three star gods. See C.J.A. Jorg, Pronk Porcelain, pp. 26-31.