拍品专文
It is generally believed that plaques or dishes with 'sample' (monster) decoration were used by workshops as advertisements for the goods they manufactured or wished to sell. Unfortunately, it has not yet been possible to back this up with evidence from workshop archives. Another source for these 'sample' plaques and dishes could be Chinese porcelain with 'Hundred Antiquities' decoration, where various stylised objects are painted on a plain background.
A dish in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (inv.no. BK-NM-12400-194), a canted square plaque and plate formerly in the collection of Dr. Anton C.R. Dreesmann and attributed to De Grieksche A factory (Christie's, Amsterdam, 16 April 2002, lots 1292, 1293), and the present rocaille plaque are all decorated with the same central three-tier arrangement of teapots and vases centering a 5-vase garniture. On the Rijksmuseum plaque, this 'sample' decoration is surrounded by a variety of objects which could not have been produced by a Delft potter: a mirror, a chair, a dog and a cat, a wooden basket, a cradle etc. but all typical of 'Hundred Antiquities' decoration found on imported Chinese porcelains. The Dreesmann plate is reserved on the border with five medallions enclosing Oriental figures, again, not what one would describe as 'sample' decoration but found on contemporary Chinese porcelains.
Another link to a Chinese source is the yellow ground, which reminds us of Kangxi examples. Cf. M.S. van Aken-Fehmers, Delfts Aardewerk, Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Zwolle, 1999, p. 148-149, no. 55 and figs. 1, 2 and the front cover.
A dish in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (inv.no. BK-NM-12400-194), a canted square plaque and plate formerly in the collection of Dr. Anton C.R. Dreesmann and attributed to De Grieksche A factory (Christie's, Amsterdam, 16 April 2002, lots 1292, 1293), and the present rocaille plaque are all decorated with the same central three-tier arrangement of teapots and vases centering a 5-vase garniture. On the Rijksmuseum plaque, this 'sample' decoration is surrounded by a variety of objects which could not have been produced by a Delft potter: a mirror, a chair, a dog and a cat, a wooden basket, a cradle etc. but all typical of 'Hundred Antiquities' decoration found on imported Chinese porcelains. The Dreesmann plate is reserved on the border with five medallions enclosing Oriental figures, again, not what one would describe as 'sample' decoration but found on contemporary Chinese porcelains.
Another link to a Chinese source is the yellow ground, which reminds us of Kangxi examples. Cf. M.S. van Aken-Fehmers, Delfts Aardewerk, Geschiedenis van een nationaal product, Zwolle, 1999, p. 148-149, no. 55 and figs. 1, 2 and the front cover.