CIRCA 1700

Details

An Arita blue and white 'V.O.C.' monogram dish
Circa 1700
The central medallion enclosing the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) on a ground of exotic birds amongst pomegranates, peonies and rockwork, within border panels of bamboo, further peonies and rockwork, rim crack and chips
21.5 cm. diam.

Exhibited

Leeuwarden, Gemeentelijk Museum Het Princessehof, Japans blauw wit porselein op Hollandse bestelling en in de japanse smaak, 10 April - 19 June 1981, fig. 26.

Special notice

Christie's charges a Buyer's premium calculated at 23.205% of the hammer price for each lot with a value up to €110,000. If the hammer price of a lot exceeds €110,000 then the premium for the lot is calculated at 23.205% of the first €110,000 plus 11.9% of any amount in excess of €110,000. Buyer's Premium is calculated on this basis for each lot individually.

Lot Essay

Although the panels are still traceable to the model in Chinese Wanli period 'kraak porselein', these motifs clearly exhibit the characteristics of the Japanese style of decoration, which developed independantly. The phoenix (Ho-o or Fenghuang) with their fanned-out tails appear on both Kakiemon and Imari and were imitated on faience and porcelain in Europe as a typically Japanese motif.

Dishes with V.O.C. monogram are naturally exemplary of East-West relations in ceramics and the role the Company played in them. No special mention is made of them in the trade documents, but it can be taken that they were ordered for the use of the company staff at the factory on Deshima and possibly also in Batavia and other factories in Asia.

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