CIRCA 1730-40

Details

A PAIR OF FAMILLE ROSE 'BOTANICAL' DISHES
Circa 1730-40
Each finely enamelled at the centre with a white-bodied caterpillar crawling on the leaf of a blue iris, beside another with green body crawling amongst the petals of an orchid, a grisaille and iron-red butterfly hovering above, enclosed by an underglaze blue and gilt floral band in the well, and a broad band of iron-red and aubergine elaborate strapwork with turquoise-green acanthus leaves and gilt stylised flower-heads at the border
10 1/8 in. (26 cm.) diam. (2)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 8 June 1982, lot 156 (to Dreesmann).
Dr Anton C.R. Dreesmann (inventory no. J-16).

Special notice

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.

Lot Essay

This design is taken from a sketchbook of Maria Sibylla Merian (1647-1717), a Dutch botanist and artist who was particularly interested in the study of insects and plants in the Dutch West Indies; it is a combination of details from three sketches. The border is reminiscent of designs by Cornelis Pronk. See the smaller single plate of this design from the Mottahedeh Collection, illustrated by Howard and Ayers, China for the West, London and New York, 1978, vol.I, no.298, where the authors suggest that this design could have originated from the 'studio' of Pronk. This design is more commonly found in underglaze blue, white and gilt. Examples in the famille rose palette can be found in the British Museum and the Rijksmuseum amongst others.

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