•D2421. Polychrome and Gilded Bowl

Delft, circa 1710

Marked PAK in iron red for Pieter Kocx, the owner of De Grieksche A (The Greek A) factory from 1701 to 1703, or his widow Johanna van der Heul, the owner of the factory from 1703 to 1722

The exterior of the bowl painted in the imari palette of iron-red, blue and gold, the upper rim with a band of ruyi-heads, the body decorated on one side with a bird perched amidst flowering branches and foliage, the other side with flowering branches and foliage and an insect, the foot-rim with a band of beadwork, the interior painted with flowers and foliage in the center, and the inner rim with four groups of minimalistic flowering branches.

DIMENSIONS
Diameter: 16 cm.(6.3 in.); Height: 8 cm. (3.2 in.)

PROVENANCE
Collection of Benjamin F. Edwards (1931-2009)

NOTE
In the last quarter of the seventeenth century the Japanese porcelain factories at Arita (Kyushu) developed their own styles for decorating the wares to be exported to the Netherlands. The sought-after blue and white wares no longer imitated the Chinese ‘Kraak’ and transitional models of the earlier decades of the century, but made way for more typical Japanese motifs, such as continuous landscapes and boldly painted designs of large flowers, phoenixes or other mythological creatures (see Jörg, Van Campen 1997, p. 199). Moreover, polychrome wares in new styles and palettes began to appear on the market: Kakiemon and Imari.

Named after its place of distribution near the Arita factories, Imari porcelain is characterized by its asymmetrical compositions painted in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold. These new wares were an immediate success in the Netherlands where consumers were familiar with only the blue and white porcelains. Although initially quite expensive, Imari porcelain was imported in greater quantities and it soon dominated the market. Delft potters participated in the emerging market for Imari porcelain by producing lower-priced imitations. The Chinese also copied the Imari style in the color and several selected motifs for their export market. The production was limited and the objects are quite rare today. The Chinese later adopted the palette for a large production of ‘Imari’ wares in their own style of decoration, especially popular from about 1725 to 1740, see Jörg, Van Campen 1997, p. 200; several pieces of Chinese porcelain in this rare Japanese style are in the Palace Museum, Beijing, illustrated in Qing Porcelain from the Palace Museum Collection, Beijing 1989, pp. 129-131, nos. 112-114.

The production of Imari-style decorated earthenwares in Delft began at the turn of the seventeenth to eighteenth century, reaching its zenith in the 1720s and 1730s. The present bowl is a rare example of this fashionable exotic design. In contrast, Delft Imari plates and vases are more frequently encountered.