Recent Acquisitions
On this page you'll find my latest acquisitions, It may, however, take some time for all objects to load.
This way you can quickly browse through my recently acquired objects without having to browse through all the various categories.
After some time, each object in 'Recent Acquisitions' will be moved to their specific category.
Latest updates:
Recent Acquisitions; November 28, 2022.
BIG End of Year SALE!
From November 1 to
December 31, 2022
we are offering:
30% discount
on all our ceramics, earthenware and books,
including all objects in the Recent Acquisitions page
(excluding all objects in the Bargain SALE categories)
and free shipping on all orders!
Please feel free to contact us through:
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Happy Hunting!!
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Nanking Cargo, 1752
Object 2010810
Bowl
China
c.1751
Provenance: The Nanking Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 28 April - 2 May 1986
Height 86 mm (3.39 inch), diameter of rim 190 mm (7.48 inch), diameter of footring 87 mm (3.43 inch), weight 483 grams (17.03 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring with spreading sides and a straight rim. Polychrome decorated, only visible in ghost form, all the enamels have been eroded by the salt sea water, with the 'Other' patterns, two birds in flight between peony and a branch of flowering peach. On the base the original Christie's The Nanking Cargo sale label proving it has been one of 48 bowls sold in lot 3159. (Amsterdam 1986, p.130)
On Monday January 3, 1752, the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) ship Geldermalsen, struck a reef on her return journey to the Netherlands and sank in the South China Sea. Of the crew 32 survived and 80 went down with the ship and her cargo of tea, raw silk, textiles, dried wares, groceries, lacquer and porcelain.
The cargo of Chinese porcelain was originally potted in Jingdezhen, Jiangzi province then shipped to Nanking for delivery to the VOC vessel Geldermalsen for final transportation to the Netherlands. The Geldermalsen struck a reef on her return journey to the Netherlands and sank in the South China Sea on January 3, 1752. The cargo was recovered by Captain Michael Hatcher and his team in 1985 and sold by Christie's Amsterdam on 28 April - 2 May 1985 as 'The Nanking Cargo. Chinese Export Porcelain and Gold' two hundred and thirty-five years later. (Jörg 1986/1. pp.39-59).
An interesting detail is that Captain Michael Hatcher found the wreck of the Geldermalsen on the same reef as he earlier, in 1983, found the wreck of a Chinese junk. both wrecks were about a mile apart. This Chinese Junk wreck came to be known as "The Hatcher Junk" she had a cargo of Kraak and Transitional porcelain objects that were dated c.1643. (Sheaf & Kilburn 1988, p.27)
In total 119 bowls with the 'Other' patterns, (two birds in flight between peony and a branch of flowering peach), were sold divided over the lots: 3158-3160. (Amsterdam 1986)
Condition: Two tiny frits (right next to each other) and a hairline to the rim
References:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Shipwreck Porcelains - The Diana Cargo, 1817
Object 2010996
Glazed toy figure
China
c.1816
Provenance: The Diana Cargo sale, Christie's Amsterdam, 6-7 March 1995
Height 63 mm (2.48 inch), dimensions 45 mm (1.77 inch) x 35 mm (1.37 inch), weight 50 grams (1.76 ounce (oz.))
Glazed toy figure of a seated boy holding a bushy-tailed feline straw glazed with scattered green and dark spots. On the toy figure the original 'Christie's Diana Cargo March 1995' sale lot 1009/10 label proving it has been one of 10 toy figures sold in lot 1009.
Ball states that of the 877 terracotta statues, animal statue predominated. There were crowing cocks, seated dogs, paddling ducks, horses and buffalo. The finest one of all was the boy on a buffalo. Amazingly, the paint had survived on many of them and apart from their desirability for reasons of religion or superstition, they would make attractive display pieces too. The objects were especially popular with the more superstitious southern Chinese communities in Guandong, Fujian, and Zhejiary provinces; and little secular groups. Figures were normally carried as "private" cargo, not in bulk; but there is evidence that there were several hundred on Diana, so maybe the Madrassi principals thought it was worth experimenting with the local markets in India. The Chinese never regarded ceramic sculptures as a serious art form. Unlike Western potters, who were excited by trying to recreate in a ceramic medium the achievements of the European stone and wood sculptural tradition, the Chinese made pottery and porcelain figures as a very cheap substitute only for other media like stone, wood or even ivory and soapstone) in Fujian province'. Ceramic figures never formed the bulk part of a cargo coming back from the West+ except for a brief period a century before Diana, when blanc de Chine figures became sufficiently popular for large quantities to be shipped from a temporary entrepôt at Amoy. Apart from that moment, Diana tells us, more than any other excavated ship's cargo, about what figures the Chinese were producing, and what was popular abroad even when largely divorced from their original context. (Ball 1995, pp.145-149)
In total 212 glazed toy figures (of which 62 'seated boy with a bushy- tailed feline' figures) were sold divided over the lots: 989-1013. (Amsterdam 1995)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated glazed toy figure, please see:
Condition: Some tiny spots with loss of glaze.
References:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Vases
Object 2010666
A miniature "doll's house" vase
China
1700-1720
Height 59 mm (2.32 inch), diameter 31 mm (1.22 inch), diameter of mouthrim 8 mm (0.31 inch), diameter of footring 15 mm (0.47 inch), weight 25 grams (0.88 ounce (oz.))
A miniature "doll's house" vase on an unglazed base. The rim in underglaze brown (jia mangkou). Decorated in underglaze-blue with flowering aster and an insect in flight.
At the beginning of the 18th century, there was a fashion among wealthy Dutch ladies to have models made on the scale of a house, the so called "doll's houses". The rooms of these doll's houses were furnished with miniature pieces of porcelain, furniture, paintings, upholstery and all other sorts of objects that would have belonged to the interior of a wealthy home. These doll's houses were very costly and certainly not meant for children to play with but were proudly displayed for friends and visitors and regarded as extremely luxurious items - counterparts of the cabinets of curiosities that were a fashionable hobby of rich men. Only a few of these doll's houses have been preserved. One example can be found in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague showing an 18th century room with porcelain miniatures in cupboards and on brackets along the wall. In reality the majority of these "miniature doll's house vases" would have been part of the interior. A good example of an authentic porcelain room is the famous cabinet in Pommersfelden Castle, Germany, where groups of pieces on brackets are surrounded by these miniature vases lining the borders of the consoles. (Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.50-51)
It was a popular pastime for the ladies of the Dutch patrician society to furnish doll's houses, whose various rooms reflected those of their own town palaces. Apart from the usual furniture, miniature versions of exotic luxury goods such as porcelain, fabrics, carpets and lacquer were obligatory. The doll's house of Petronella Oortman, now in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, and that of Lita de Ranitz in the Historical Museum of the Hague are considered to be the most prominent examples. The Chinese had produced miniature ceramics for almost one thousand years for the decoration of birdcages, therefore it was no problem for them to supply the Dutch with doll's house porcelain. Miniature pieces were also displayed in ordinary porcelain rooms in cupboards and on brackets along the wall. (Suebsman 2019, p.76)
Condition: Some firing flaws to the neck and foot and a tiny fleabite to the rim.
References:
Price: € 129 Currency Converter
Blue and White Kangxi Period 1662-1722 - Miniature Doll's House vases
Object 2011759
A miniature "doll's house" vase
China
1700-1720
Height 42 mm (1.63 inch), diameter 23 mm (0.91 inch), diameter of mouthrim 12 mm (0.47 inch), diameter of footring 12 mm (0.47 inch), weight 11 grams (0.39 ounce (oz.))
Miniature "doll's house" vase on a footring. Decorated in underglaze blue with flowering aster, around the neck a zig-zag lines pattern border on the neck grasses and round the rim a zig-zag lines pattern border.
At the beginning of the 18th century, there was a fashion among wealthy Dutch ladies to have models made on the scale of a house, the so called "doll's houses". The rooms of these doll's houses were furnished with miniature pieces of porcelain, furniture, paintings, upholstery and all other sorts of objects that would have belonged to the interior of a wealthy home. These doll's houses were very costly and certainly not meant for children to play with but were proudly displayed for friends and visitors and regarded as extremely luxurious items - counterparts of the cabinets of curiosities that were a fashionable hobby of rich men. Only a few of these doll's houses have been preserved. One example can be found in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague showing an 18th century room with porcelain miniatures in cupboards and on brackets along the wall. In reality the majority of these "miniature doll's house vases" would have been part of the interior. A good example of an authentic porcelain room is the famous cabinet in Pommersfelden Castle, Germany, where groups of pieces on brackets are surrounded by these miniature vases lining the borders of the consoles. (Jörg & Flecker 2001, pp.50-51)
It was a popular pastime for the ladies of the Dutch patrician society to furnish doll's houses, whose various rooms reflected those of their own town palaces. Apart from the usual furniture, miniature versions of exotic luxury goods such as porcelain, fabrics, carpets and lacquer were obligatory. The doll's house of Petronella Oortman, now in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, and that of Lita de Ranitz in the Historical Museum of the Hague are considered to be the most prominent examples. The Chinese had produced miniature ceramics for almost one thousand years for the decoration of birdcages, therefore it was no problem for them to supply the Dutch with doll's house porcelain. Miniature pieces were also displayed in ordinary porcelain rooms in cupboards and on brackets along the wall. (Suebsman 2019, p.76)
Condition: A firing flaw to the outer footring.
References:
Price: € 149 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial
Object 2011364
Coffee cup
China
1750-1760
Height 63 mm (2.48 inch), diameter of rim 55 mm (2.17 inch), diameter of footring 25 mm (0.98 inch), weight 85 grams (3.00 ounce (oz.))
Coffee cup with handle on footring. Decorated in various overglaze enamels and gold with a marriage device of two ovals with cyphers, beneath a coronet. Round the rim a spearhead -pattern border.
Much Chinese export porcelain made for the Dutch market has a pseudo-armorial character, the most notable and largest group being monogrammed porcelain. Monograms are initials, often finely painted in the shape of a mirror monogram or cipher. A mirror monogram is a design of a monogram where the letters are reversed to make mirror images to produce an ornamental form. The word cipher is more or less synonymous with mirror monogram the with the emphasis on encrypting text with a combination of symbolic letters in an entwined weaving of letters.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
This coffee cup was undoubtedly part of a marriage coffee and tea service. It has a pseudo armorial, the crest more likely signifying marital bliss than of any heraldic significance. (Howard 1994, p.163. cat. 180)
Condition: A restored handle.
Reference:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
The Ca Mau Shipwreck, c.1725
Object 2011788
Tea bowl and saucer
China
c.1725
Provenance: Made in Imperial China. 76.000 pieces of Chinese Export Porcelain from the Ca Mau shipwreck, circa 1725 sale, Sotheby's Amsterdam, 29, 30 & 31 January 2007.
Height of tea bowl 34 mm (1.34 inch), diameter of rim 71 mm (2.80 inch), diameter of footring 32 mm (1.26 inch), weight 52 grams (1.83 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 24 mm (0.94 inch), diameter of rim 122 mm (4.80 inch), diameter of footring 63 mm (2.48 inch), weight 80 grams (2.82 ounce (oz.))
Tea bowl and saucer on footring, slightly everted rims. Decorated in underglaze-blue with an island pavilion and distant boats within panelled border of moths and foliage, the rim with trellis borders enclosing flower sprays, the reverse of the saucer with stylised bamboo, the tea bowl is decorated en suite. On the base of the saucer handwritten in black ink: 'CM2 - 3671', a rectangular paper label with the handwritten numbers: '73J5/B' (in blue) and '2144' (in red) and the original Sotheby's - UNICOM, CA MAU - BINH THUAN label with number 73415. On the base of the teacup handwritten in black ink: 'CM4 - 12249 and a rectangular paper label with the handwritten numbers: '83231/B' (in blue) and '210' (in red), on the exterior wall the original Sotheby's - UNICOM, CA MAU - BINH THUAN label with number; 63050.(Amsterdam 2007, p.55)
The Ca Mau shipwreck was a Chinese ocean-going junk, almost certainly en route from Canton (now Kuangzhou) to the Dutch trading port of Batavia (now Jakarta). Disaster struck of the Ca Mau peninsular, there was a fire on board so severe that some of the porcelain was fused together. There were a few wine cups recovered bearing the mark of the Emperor Yongzheng who reigned from 1723 to 1735. By this time tea and coffee was the rage throughout Europe and the principal traders were the British 'Honourable East India Company' and the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC). With the demand for tea came demand for porcelain by which to drink it and so most of what they imported in these year was tea wares. (Amsterdam 2007, pp.8-9)
The Ca Mau shipwreck was discovered by fishermen working of the Ca Mau peninsular when their nets snagged on it. When they realised the porcelain was saleable they began dredging up as much as possible. Once the Vietnamese Ministry of Culture and Information realised what was happening they moved in quickly to secure the wreck site. The excavation was lead by the Curator of The National Museum of Vietnamese culture. Most pieces not only have the Sotheby’s auction label but also the 'CM' reference number of the Vietnamese conservators. In all, 130,000 pieces were recovered and 76,000 of the finer condition pieces were selected to be sold as 'Made in Imperial China. 76,000 pieces of Chinese Export Porcelain from the Ca Mau Shipwreck, circa 1725' by Sotheby’s Amsterdam on 29, 30 & 31 January 2007. (Amsterdam 2007, pp.6-7)
The Ca Mau wreck was first reported on in the daily newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) on May 5th1998. Accordingly, the authority of Binh Thuan province had confiscated 32,569 artefacts and 2,4 tons of metal objects recovered illegally by two fishermen from a shipwreck off the coast of Ca Mau province. Two experts dated 33,978 artefacts, mainly ceramics, to the Yongzheng reign of the Qing dynasty (1723-1735). Afterward, the recoveries, coded CM1, were handed over to the Binh Thuan Museum. (Amsterdam 2007, p.11)
The design on this teacup and saucer is known as the 'Landscape, panel and trellis' pattern. In total 1,650 tea bowls and saucers and 1,220 single saucers, with this design were sold. (Amsterdam 2007, lot 983-1005)
Condition:
Saucer: Perfect.
Tea bowl: Perfect.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Japanese Tea, Coffee and Chocolate wares 18th Century
Object 2012141
Coffee pot
Japan
1700-1720
Height with cover 315 mm (12.40 inch), height without cover 265 mm (10.43 inch), diameter handle to spout 265 mm (10.43 inch), diameter of mouthrim 90 mm (3.54 inch), diameter of footring 150 mm (5.91 inch), weight with cover 1,826 grams (64.41 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 88 grams (3.10 ounce (oz.))
Coffee pot of conical shape on three flat modelled feet. Curved, flat pierced handle, replaced wooden domed cover with pointed knob. The hole for the mounted Dutch brass tap in the lower part is surrounded by a kiku-flower modelled in low relief. Decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with two heart-shaped panels outlined in underglaze blue and filled with a flower-head on an iron-red ground. In between stylised flowers, foliage and a cockerel with a hen. On the handle florets between scrolls.
As was the case with tea, it was not until the end of the 17th century that drinking coffee became popular in Europe. each town had his own coffee house, where everyone - which in fact meant mainly men - could enjoy drinking a cup of coffee. The Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), started off mainly importing coffee from Yemen, experimenting only later with plantations of their own in Java.
However, drinking coffee had for centuries already been a common practice in the Middle East. European coffee pots were therefore often modelled after Islamic copper examples. Two types of coffee pots were most frequently commissioned in Asian porcelain: conical and belly-shaped. The conical shaped pot originally came from Japan. After brewed coffee was poured into this luxurious porcelain pot, it was held warm on a stand and subsequently served through a metal tap which had later been added to the pot after it had been imported to the Netherlands. At the bottom of the pot the coffee grounds were collected. Coffee pots from China, where both types were made, don't feature a tap but a spout. (The World at Home, exhibition Groninger Museum 17 june 2017 - 31 march 2019)
Coffee pots, usually three-legged, are common in blue-and-white and in enamelled Imari. Usually there is one hole left for a tap to be fitted in Europe, occasionally there are three. (Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.213)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated coffee pot, please see:
Condition: Overall fine crazing to the glaze, a circular firing tension hairline, caused by the firing process, to the base and a glaze chip to the body.
References:
Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.213
Price: € 749 Currency Converter
Japanese Blue and White wares 17th Century - Other wares
Object 2012505
Beaker vase
Japan
1680-1700
Height 291 mm (11.46 inch), diameter of mouthrim 180 mm (7.09 inch), diameter of footring 97 mm (3.81 inch), weight 1,603 grams (56.54 ounce (oz.))
A large cylindrical trumpet-shaped beaker vase on footring with a flaring mouth and sides spreading towards the inset takefushi-shaped foot. Decorated in underglaze blue with two groups of flowering plants one with flowering peony the other with flowering prunus both groups are devided by grasses. Round the foot two concentric bands.
The beaker form comes from Chinese Transitional ware but the angle cut-in of the sides above the foot became an Arita hallmark. (Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, p.103, cat. 48)
For identically shaped beaker vases, decorated in underglaze blue, please see:
- Porcelain for Palaces. The Fashion for Japan in Europe 1650-1750, (J. Ayers, O. Impey & J.V.G. Mallet, Oriental Ceramic Society & The British Museum, London 1990), p.103, cat. 48.
- Ko-Imari from the collection of Oliver Impey, (Barry Davies Oriental Art, London, 1997), pp.46-47, cat. 20.
This large beaker vase was once part of a garniture which mostly consisted of three covered oviform-shaped jars and two cylindrical beaker vases with spreading mouths, all with the same decoration, They were very popular in The Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe, where they were used as decorative items in the interior. (Jörg 2003/1, p.259)
The shape of the bulging foot, which spreads and then turns sharply inward, is seen on many ewers of this period as well as on later jars, vases and other pieces. It is a distinctively Japanese feature, called takefushi, 'bamboo-noded' foot. (Jörg 2003/1, p.74)
For an Imari decorated large beaker vase, please see:
Condition: Two hairlines to the rim.
References:
Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, cat. 48
Price: € 699 Currency Converter
Japanese Kakiemon / Japanese Kakiemon-style wares - Japanese Kakiemon
Object 2012504
Bowl
Japan
c.1700
Height 100 mm (3.94 inch), diameter of rim 259 mm (10.20 inch), diameter of footring 135 mm (5.31 inch), weight 1,122 grams (39.58 ounce (oz.))
Lobbed bowl on footring. On the base six spur-marks. Decorated in underglaze blue. In the centre the 'Scheveningen' design. The sides undecorated, the outside with a continuous scene of a landscape with two figures seated at a table, a sage and a boy on a terrace, and a pine tree by a fence with a pair of phoenixes one perched on a branch the other in flight with clouds above. The are divided by rockwork and flowering prunus. On the base a square fuku (good luck) mark in seal script.
The design on this bowl has traditionally been called 'Deshima' or 'Scheveningen'. This design was highly popular in The Netherlands, and possibly also in Japan as a kind of Western exoticism. It first appeared, in underglaze blue, on Japanese dishes of the late 17th century.
It certainly does not depict the Dutch factory in Deshima (Nagasaki), a fan-shaped, man-made island in Japan to which Westerners were restricted between 1641 and 1862. Scheveningen, a fishermen´s village on the Dutch coast near The Hague seems a more appropriate name. In fact 47 'Scheveningen' plates were already mentioned in the 1778 sale catalogue of the porcelain shop of Martha Raap in Amsterdam, clearly indicating this type. Much research was done to find the print that was used as a model, but non with this view have yet come to light. it is therefore possible that another source was used, maybe a plate or dish in the so-called Frijtom style. Frederick van Frijtom (c.1632-1702) was a Delft faience painter who specialised in plates, dishes and plaques with landscapes in blue. His work is characterised by wide blank rims on plates and dishes, detailed painting of trees and landscapes and a specific way of drawing clouds. (Jörg 2003/1) The existence of a Scheveningen Japanese plate in precisely this style makes it plausible that at some point a Delft example by Frijtom was used. (Terwee 1989)
Several variations of the ´Scheveningen decoration´ design are known, in both Japanese and – later - Chinese porcelain. These were mostly dishes, but elements of the design were also used on bowls and cups. Some copies are barely recognisable.
For another identically shaped, sized and decorated bowl, please see:
- The Shibata Collection Part VII, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 1991), p.222, cat. 503.
- Chinese Ceramics in the Collection of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. The Ming and Qing Dynasties, (C.J.A. Jörg in collaboration with J. van Campen, London, 1997), p. 243, cat. 312.
- Complete Catalogue of the Shibata Collection, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu 2003), p.278, cat. 2167.
The 'Scheveningen' motif has been altered, but the compositional elements are still easily recognisable. Rocks and figures create a strong diagonal that is absent in earlier versions. An enamelled Meissen bowl of c.1730 in the British Museum closely copies this shape and design, including the diagonal composition.
For this Meissen bowl, please see:
An interesting example in the collection of the Groninger Museum: a blank Chinese porcelain dish overdecorated in Delft (the Netherlands) c.1700-1730. The circle was thus made complete, the design having travelled from Delft to Japan and then back to Delft. (Jörg 2003/1, cat. 307a)
For this Delft variant, please see:
- Fine & Curious: Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, (C.J.A. Jörg, Hotei Publishing, Amsterdam 2003), p.241, cat. 307a.
In the cargo of the Ca Mau shipwreck, c.1725 a total of 80 dishes decorated with the Chine de commande 'Scheveningen decoration' were found. As we know the original designs were traditionally made in Japan for the Dutch. These dishes were so popular that Chinese potters copied them in order to compete with the Japanese. Such copies were already known, but the occurrence in the Ca Mau made it likely that these dishes, and therefore most of the porcelain cargo, were destined for Batavia because only the Dutch would appreciate such specific Chine de commande pieces. (Amsterdam 2007, p.17, lot 223-233 & p.179)
The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Arita, dates this specific mark to 1670-80, which seems rather early. Fitski states that the character of this mark has not been identified. It occurs on Nangawara pieces that date from 1670 to 1700. For this mark please see:
- The Shibata Collection Part V, (The Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Kyushu, 1997), p.253, cat. 16.
- Kakiemon Porcelain. A Handbook. (M. Fitski, Leiden University Press, Leiden & Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 2011), p.165.
Condition: A re-stuck piece to the rim and several chips to the rim.
References:
Ayers, Impey & Mallet 1990, cat. 33
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat.307a & cat. 312
Amsterdam 2007, p.17, lot 223-233 & p.179
Price: Sold.
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Dutch
Object 2012503
Dish
China
c.1738-1741
Height 40 mm (0.71 inch), diameter of rim 300 mm (8.74 inch), diameter of footring 165 mm (4.72 inch), weight 959 grams (33.83 ounce (oz.))
Octagonal dish on footring. Decorated in underglaze blue with eight lotus petals, each containing a stemmed lotus flower on a spiralling diaper ground. In the medallion, in the heart of the lotus-shaped flower head, a coat of arms of De Haze and Sonmans accollé. On the left or heraldic right (a running animal with a small tail representing a hare, on the base, with two six-pointed stars above) and a coat of arms accollé to the right or heraldic left: quarterly, 1. and 4. a crown with a cross above (a king's crown or papal tiara), 2. a plant with stem and seven leafy branches, the stem continuing into the fourth quarter, 3. fleur-de-lis, with an oval shield of pretence with a mask-like human face. Both shields are on a pedestal, surrounded by ornaments and scrollwork in Louis XiV style and with a coronet above and a ribbon on either side. A narrow band of spirals on the outer rim. On the reverse four stylized flower sprays.
The dexter arms are those of De Haze from Middelburg. The quarterly arms accollé were borne by a branch of the Sonmans (or Sonnemans) family, although several armorial variations have been used by this family.
The armorial on the porcelain was borne by Rachel Sonmans on a seal when she signed a notarial act drawn up in The Hague in 1766.
Rachel Sonmans was the elder sister of Sara Sonmans who was Elias de Haze's first wife. Elias de Haze (1689-1752) ordered this service after his marriage to Sara Sonmans on 23 September 1738, but before 13 September 1741 when Sara died. In the 1730s Elias was active as a VOV official in Ambon, Ternate and Batavia. From 1734 he lived in Batavia, first as extraordinary councillor and from 1739 as ordinary councillor of the Indies. Shortly after his wife death in 1741 he returns home, settling in The Hague where he married secondly Catarina Emants (1715-1782) on 4 June 1744.
Sara Sonmans' family came from Amsterdam. This family was originally from 's-Hertogenbosch, with a branch in Amsterdam from the beginning of the 17th century and also branches in Rotterdam, Naarden and Moordrecht. Sara's father, David Sonmans (1664-1727), was a brewer in Amsterdam and he went to the Indies, In Batavia from 1712. There he was a junior merchant and secretary of marital affairs (1713-1722) among others. From his marriage to Sara Frossart (1677/78-1743) he had seven children at least, including Rachel, Johanna and Sara, the youngest.
Rachel, who the boar the coat of arms as depicted on the porcelain, married two VOC officials, first Christoffel Ringh from Copenhagen and second Elso Sterrenburg from East Friesland, Germany. The later became senior merchant and commander of Java (1744-1745), but he was dismissed in 1747 because of misbehaviour. Rachel left him and returned to the Netherlands, where she lived in The Hague, Delft and probably Nijmegen where she was buried in 1776.
Sara's older sister, Johanna, married four times, all to VOC officials too. Her second husband was Henry Abbis (dies Batavia 1744), an Englishman who was supercargo of the Dutch factory in China in 1735-1737 and in 1739. It is very likely that Abbis carried out this order in 1739 on behalf of his sister-in-law Sara Sonmans and her husband Elias de Haze. In 1755 Johanna Sonmans married for the fourth and last time Librecht Hooreman. Her last husband ordered an armorial service with their arms accollé and decorated with flower festoons. It is interesting to note that Johanna's arms were quite different from those of her sister, Sara.
Of these type of dishes two sizes are known the small 210 mm (8.27 inch) and this large 300 mm (11.81 inch) version.
For an identically decorated dish, please see:
Condition: Some firing flaws and frits and a chip to some corners of the rim.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Batavia Brown (Capucin wares) 1700-1800
Object 2012502
Bowl
China
1740-1760
Height 77 mm (3.03 inch), diameter of rim 154 mm (6.06 inch), diameter of footring 66 mm (2.60 inch), weight 318 grams (11.22 ounce (oz.))
Bowl on footring with steeply rounded sides flaring towards a slightly everted rim. The outside is covered with so-called Batavia-Brown, underglaze dark brown. Decorated in underglaze blue on the bottom with peony and chrysanthemum plants growing from rockwork in a double concentric band. On the sides wide spread peony and chrysanthemum flower sprays flanked by a single flowering stem. Around the rim reserves filled with half flower heads. On the outside wheel engraved decoration with a peacock, a bird and a lantern amongst two wide spread floral sprays. Marked on the base with the symbol mark: 'Pair of fish', (shuang yu) one of the eight Buddhist Emblems and symbol of marital bliss, in a double circle in underglaze blue. (Davison 1994, cat. 1825)
In the Netherlands, porcelain decorated in this type of underglaze brown has historically been called "Batavia Brown" or "Capucijnergoed" ("Chick-pea ware", after the legume). The first name may have been coined because most goods exported to The Netherlands from the East were sent via Batavia and has nothing to do with a Batavian production or decoration, It is a very common type with the decoration usually contained within medallions. Occasionally, a gold decoration has been painted on the brown glaze. The brown colour is achieved by using iron oxide as a pigment, which like underglaze blue, needs to be fired at high temperatures. Considerable quantities were exported to the Western and Inter-Asian markets from c.1700. The pieces are rarely refined and can be considered as articles for everyday use by the middle-classes. (Jörg 2002/2, p.120)
Wheel engraving cuts through the glaze, using copper wheels of varying sizes and abrasives, and reveals the porcelain´s white body. This European technique was first developed for glass around 1590 to 1605, and then applied to ceramics. Commentators have speculated that this demonstrably European carved decoration may have been performed by either Bohemian, Saxon or Silesian craftsmen. The former collection of King Augustus the Strong in Dresden contains several wheel engraved sets. An inventory drawn up in the period 1721-1727 notes that the Saxon Minister Count Vitzthum had several items brought from Holland in December 1723 at the King's command, suggesting that the engraving was carried out there. Given the predominance of Bohemian glass traders and artist in Amsterdam and many other European cities at the time, this was probably their work. (Sargent 2012, p.504), (Emden 2015/1, p.124)
For other, earlier sold, wheel engraved objects, please see:
Condition: Two firing flaws to the footring and some glaze rough spots, fleabites and a frit to the rim.
References:
Price: Sold.
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