A JAPANESE ARITA BLUE-AND-WHITE PORCELAIN VOC CHARGER

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Late 17th century

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With centrally the VOC monogram surrounded by ho-oh birds and peonies and pomegranates,  the rim with panels in Wanli-style.

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Diam. 37 cm

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Note:

The porcelain ordered by the Dutch from Deshima during the second half of the 17th century were copied after the popular Chinese Wanli “Kraak” porcelain. With the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in China, in 1644 the source of supply of Wanli “Kraak” porcelain suddenly came to an end and the Dutch turned to Japan for porcelain in the “Kraak” style, characterised by a central floral or animal motif surrounded by a radiating segmented border with alternating panels of pomegranates and bamboo.
Dishes with the VOC monogram are exemplary of the East-West relations in ceramics and the role the Company played in them. These dishes were ordered for use by the company staff in the factories of Deshima, Batavia and elsewhere in Asia (Christiaan J.A. Jörg, Fine & Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch

Collections, Amsterdam 2003).