A large Japanese Imari porcelain 'VOC Groningen' dish

 

Arita, late 19th/early 20th century

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Diam. 43 x H. 7.4 cm

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This porcelain dish with underglaze blue and overglaze decoration in red, green, yellow, black, aubergine enamels and gold, is depicting in the rim two groups of Dutchmen, -women and children, two groups of Portuguese, twice the crowned coat-of-arms of the city of Groningen over a ribbon inscribed ‘Groeningen’, and twice the coat-of-arms of Jan Albert Sichterman (the Sichterman squirrel looking more like a

kangaroo). In the well the initials VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) are under a crown and surrounded by twigs with leaves and peaches. The reverse is decorated with three views of townhouses and a church tower with a cross, supposedly the ‘Martini toren’ of Groningen, and three times the VOC monogram on a red and green background.

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These kinds of plates catered to the need for exotic imagery amongst the Japanese tourists visiting the port cities to see the newly arrived Europeans and Americans.