D1782. Pair of Polychrome Biblical Plates

Delft, circa 1770

Each painted in shades of blue in the center with a biblical scene of Jesus seated with another figure on a river bank with in the distance trees and a radiant sun, inscribed and numbered below with “Hoe hand got geschapen landt no. 2” (How God created land), or “In haar eerste stond mag komen no. 5” (May come in the first hour) within an iron-red ground border with yellow and manganese blossoms, green foliate scrolls and manganese delineated putti interrupted at the top and bottom with a panel of a sower on the land and a banderole inscribed “Mattheus 13” (The Parable of the Sower), and at the sides with a panel showing Jesus conversing with a person above a banderole inscribed “Psalm 73 v26” (My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever).

Dimensions
Diameters: 23.8 cm. (9 in.)

Provenance
Collection Nijstad, Lochem

Similar examples
Various dishes with a similar border, and a decoration in the same style, most likely from the same graphical source are in the collection of Gemeentemuseum The Hague, inv. no. OC(D)220-1904, illustrated in Van Aken-Fehmers, 2001, p. 339, ill 3a and in Lunsingh Scheurleer, 1984, p. 293, ill. 301). Another dish with a similar type of rococo decoration in the border, in the Rijksmuseum (inv. BK-NM-12400-176), Amsterdam, is illustrated in Aronson 2008-2009, p. 76, fig. 3. A biblical plaque, also after the prints of Pieter Schut is depicted in Lahaussois 1998, p. 250, ill 297. A similar pair of dishes, but with a larger diameter of 34.7 cm, shows a similar border pattern of cupids and flowers surrounding the cartouches with allegorical figures also in Lahaussois 1998, p.253 ill.300 (inv.no. MNC19133).