D2515. Blue and White Kraak-Style Charger

Delft, circa 1690
Painted in the center with four Asian men seated in front of a gate of the fenced garden near rocks and pines, the well encircled by a scroll border, the cavetto and rim with a wide border of four fan-shaped panels depicting a man striding with a knapsack over his shoulder, alternating with four fan-shaped floral panels, all separated by narrow floral panels edged with ‘cable’ bands, and the underside with alternating O and X devices within wide and narrow fan-shaped panels.

DIMENSIONS
Diameter: 41 cm. (16.1 in.)

PROVENANCE
The Kitty Valkier-Schreurs Collection, Belgium

NOTE
From approximately 1605 to 1635, the VOC mostly imported Chinese porcelain known as ‘Kraakporselein’ (Kraak-porcelain) to Holland, a name that possibly derived from the Portuguese ships called ‘caraccas’. One characteristic of the early imports are the foliated rims on the plates and dishes, which were typically made in molds. Further, the pieces were lightweight due to the thin walls of the vessels. This was advantageous because the Chinese export tax was based on the object’s weight. The decoration, always in underglaze cobalt blue, is characteristically divided into alternating wide and narrow panels, which contain Tao symbols. The central panel often shows landscapes or riverscapes with deer, birds and large flowering plants. Throughout the seventeenth century, Delft potters created faithful imitations of the Chinese Kraak-porcelain from the Wanli period (1573-1620) for table use and for decorative purposes. The paneled border, which was characteristic for the Chinese Kraakwares is precisely imitated on Delft plates. The center is often decorated with urns of flowers, fruits and precious objects, animals such as peacocks, water birds or deer, or with a Chinese scene.

A similar type, featuring a different central motif, is known as the “Lion of Judah,” where the arch was mistakenly identified as a pair of prayer scrolls.

SIMILAR EXAMPLES
The collection of musée de l’Hotel Sandelin in Saint-Omer holds a similar, smaller plate, marked for ‘t Fortuijn (The Fortune) factory, and is depicted in Boyazoglu 1983, p. 99 ill. 191. A comparable charger in both size and decoration is in the Fundação Maria Isabel Guerra Junqueiro e Luís Pinto de Mesquita Carvalho (inv. no. FA 28), and illustrated in J. Baart 2018, pp. 72-73. Similar to this dish is an example from the collection of the National Museum of Prague (inv. no. 5.927).