Pater Gratia Oriental Art

Chinese Porcelain

 

Chine de commande

 

Western Subjects 1680-1800

 

Western Designers

 

Page 1

Chinese porcelain with a shape and/or decoration copied directly from a European model is called 'Chine de commande'. It is a special group within the much wider assortment of Chinese export porcelain. There are different varieties: the Western shape with a Chinese decoration, the Chinese shape with a Western decoration, and the Western shape with a Western decoration. Such shapes often are derived from models brought from Europe. The Chinese porcelain painter also copied the Western decorations as best as he could, mostly using European prints as his model. There is an enormous variety of designs of this type: scenes from classical mythology, historical and political events, landscapes with a view of a village or town, amorous or erotic depictions, portraits, religious scenes, etc. A specific type, 'encre de Chine', with its thin, almost drawn lines of grey-black enamel, was best suited to imitate the lines of Western engravings. The designs for commande made by the Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk, in particular the so-called 'Parasol Lady', ordered in three different colour schemes are particularly famous. The VOC (Dutch East India Company, 1602–1799) ordered these between 1735 and 1740 as an expensive exception to the variety of ordinary porcelain that the Company normally bought. Commande was popular throughout the 18th century. Decorations in underglaze blue were painted in the factory; those in enamels were done in muffle kilns in Canton, especially after c.1740.

Chine de comande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers decorated objects are, if available, categorized in the following alphabetical order:

 

- Western Designers 

  • Teyler, Johannes (1648-c.1709)
  • Baudouin. Pierre-Antoine (1723-1769)
  • Picart, Bernard (1673-1733)
  • Merian, Maria Sybille (1647-1717)
  • Pronk, Cornelis (1691-1759)

Johannes Teyler (1648–1709?)

 

Johannes Teyler (1648–1709?), a philosopher, mathematician and military engineer – not an artist or engraver – was granted a privilege for the States of Holland and West-Frisia for printing engravings and etchings in colour in 1688. His exact working manner is not described in the privilege, but from the production of the workshop that he financed can be seen that all prints were inked à la poupée in multiple bright colours. From 1695 Amsterdam print dealers also started publishing prints in Teyler's manner. The so-called 'Teyler prints' are known to print historians and antiquarian print dealers. The production from the workshop of Johannes Teyler is estimated at over 400 unique prints. (source:The New Hollstein Dutch & Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts Johannes Teyler and Dutch Colour Prints, (A.Stijnman (compiler) and S.Turner (editor), Sound & Vision Publishers B.V., Ouderkerk aan de Amstel, 2017))

The Fall of Phaëthon

 

1 (2)

 

     

a colour print by Johannes Teyler (1648-c.1709) from his Opus Typochromaticum, depicting The Fall of Phaethon collectie Rijksmuseum Amsterdam 2

A colour print by Johannes Teyler (1648-c.1709) from his Opus Typochromaticum, depicting The Fall of Phaëthon (1688-98). (pictures courtesy (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

  

Phaëthon, the son of the Sun God Helios, had begged his father to prove his paternity to his friends, so Helios had sworn an oath on the River Styx to grant any wish that the youth wanted. Phaëthon chose to ride the famous sun chariot and despite his father’s warning that the steeds were too strong for him, the young man took the reins. His lack of control soon led to disasters when he flew too low and scorched the earth. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

The part of the Teyler print here shows a group of River Gods in distress, who had petitioned Zeus to stop Pheëton’s uncontrolled Chariot ride because it had caused their rivers to dry up. When Zeus kills Phaëthon with a thunderbolt he falls into the River Eridanus where he is drowned. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375) 

2010105
2010105

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Teyler, Johannes (1648-c.1709)

 

Object 2010105

 

Teacup and saucer

 

China

 

Soft-paste or Steatitic Porcelain (pâte tendre)

 

1730-1740

 

Height of teacup 38 mm (1.49 inch), diameter of rim 70 mm (2.76 inch), diameter of footring 35 mm (1.38 inch), weight 41 grams (1.45 ounce (oz.))

Height of saucer 22 mm (0.87 inch), diameter of rim 115 mm (4.53 inch), diameter of footring 67 mm (2.64 inch), weight 64 grams (2.26 ounce (oz.))

 

Teacup and saucer on footrings. Decorated in underglaze blue with a group of people on a spit of land jutting into a lake or the sea. To the left on the shore two children with outstretched hands, at the far-left rocks with trees. Around the rim a narrow band with honeycomb motifs. The teacup is decorated en suite.

 

A recent discovery shows that this composition is taken from a part of a colour print by Johannes Teyler (1648-c.1709) from his Opus Typochromaticum (1688-98), depicting The Fall of Phaëton. Two other prints from this Opus are known on Chinese export porcelain. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

 

Phaëthon, the son of the Sun God Helios, had begged his father to prove his paternity to his friends, so Helios had sworn an oath on the River Styx to grant any wish that the youth wanted. Phaëthon chose to ride the famous sun chariot and despite his father’s warning that the steeds were too strong for him, the young man took the reins. His lack of control soon led to disasters when he flew too low and scorched the earth. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

The part of the Teyler print here shows a group of River Gods in distress, who had petitioned Zeus to stop Pheëton’s uncontrolled Chariot ride because it had caused their rivers to dry up. When Zeus kills Phaëthon with a thunderbolt he falls into the River Eridanus where he is drowned. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

 

Soft-paste porcelain, which is quite different from European soft-paste, originated about 1700 and became popular in the second quarter of the 18th century as part of the export assortment. Unlike ordinary porcelain, it is not translucent and often has a creamy-white appearance. The glaze is often finely crackled as the result of a difference in cooling between the glaze and the body. The latter is made of a white-firing clay, called "huashi" or "slippery stone", the use of which is documented in the reports of 1712 and 1722 by the Jesuit Père d'Entrecolles. As this clay was expensive, soft-paste pieces are usually small and thinly potted. They are also well-painted, as the body is particularly suitable for detailed drawing. Besides this "true" soft-paste, there are pieces with an ordinary porcelain body and a coating of "huashi" clay, which gives the same effect. Due to the porous nature of the fired "huashi" clay, soft paste objects are overall lighter than hard paste objects. The production for export flourished between 1725-1745 and came to a stand around 1750, twenty years later the production revived but the quality of the objects produced never reached the quality level of the previous production. Only a few Chine de commande objects are known to be made of soft paste porcelain, most famous being 'Neptune' and this mythological design formerly known as 'Castaways or slaves' or 'The wreck of the Grosvenor' design because it seemed to depict a famous incident when the Grosvenor, returning from India to London was lost off the coast of South Africa in 1782. Of the 123 survivors who were cast ashore only 18 made it to Cape town. (Oort & Kater 1982, p.155), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.117), (Sargent 2012, p.304), (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

 

For identically decorated dishes, please see:

For a similarly decorated dish, please see:

Condition teacup: Perfect, fine crazing to the glaze. 

Condition saucer: A firing hairline in the centre visible on both sides, fine crazing to the glaze.

 

References:

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1977, cat. 246

Oort & Kater 1982, p.155

Hervouët 1986, cat. 9.42

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 119

Jörg 2002/2, cat. 100

Jörg 2002/3, pp. 167-176

Sargent 2012, p.304

MacGuire 2023, cat. 207

CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375

 

Price: € 1.999 Currency Converter

 

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2010444
2010444

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Teyler, Johannes(1648-c.1709)

 

Object 2010444

 

Teacup

 

China

 

Soft-paste or Steatitic Porcelain (pâte tendre)

 

1730-1740

 

Height 34 mm (1.33 inch), diameter of rim 62 mm (2.44 inch), diameter of footring 29 mm (1.14 inch), weight 28 grams (0.99 ounce (oz.))

 

Teacup on footring. Decorated in underglaze blue with a group of people on a spit of land jutting into a lake or the sea. To the left on the shore two children with outstretched hands, at the far-left rocks with trees. Around the inner rim a narrow band with honeycomb motifs. The teacup is decorated en suite.

 

A recent discovery shows that this composition is taken from a part of a colour print by Johannes Teyler (1648-c.1709) from his Opus Typochromaticum (1688-98), depicting The Fall of Phaëton. Two other prints from this Opus are known on Chinese export porcelain. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375) 

 

Phaëthon, the son of the Sun God Helios, had begged his father to prove his paternity to his friends, so Helios had sworn an oath on the River Styx to grant any wish that the youth wanted. Phaëthon chose to ride the famous sun chariot and despite his father’s warning that the steeds were too strong for him, the young man took the reins. His lack of control soon led to disasters when he flew too low and scorched the earth. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

The part of the Teyler print here shows a group of River Gods in distress, who had petitioned Zeus to stop Pheëton’s uncontrolled Chariot ride because it had caused their rivers to dry up. When Zeus kills Phaëthon with a thunderbolt he falls into the River Eridanus where he is drowned. (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

 

Soft-paste porcelain, which is quite different from European soft-paste, originated about 1700 and became popular in the second quarter of the 18th century as part of the export assortment. Unlike ordinary porcelain, it is not translucent and often has a creamy-white appearance. The glaze is often finely crackled as the result of a difference in cooling between the glaze and the body. The latter is made of a white-firing clay, called "huashi" or "slippery stone", the use of which is documented in the reports of 1712 and 1722 by the Jesuit Père d'Entrecolles. As this clay was expensive, soft-paste pieces are usually small and thinly potted. They are also well-painted, as the body is particularly suitable for detailed drawing. Besides this "true" soft-paste, there are pieces with an ordinary porcelain body and a coating of "huashi" clay, which gives the same effect. Due to the porous nature of the fired "huashi" clay, soft paste objects are overall lighter than hard paste objects. The production for export flourished between 1725-1745 and came to a stand around 1750, twenty years later the production revived but the quality of the objects produced never reached the quality level of the previous production. Only a few Chine de commande objects are known to be made of soft paste porcelain, most famous being 'Neptune' and this mythological design formerly known as 'Castaways or slaves' or 'The wreck of the Grosvenor' design because it seemed to depict a famous incident when the Grosvenor, returning from India to London was lost off the coast of South Africa in 1782. Of the 123 survivors who were cast ashore only 18 made it to Cape town. (Oort & Kater 1982, p.155), (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.117), (Sargent 2012, p.304), (CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375)

 

For identically decorated objects, please see:

For a similarly decorated dish, please see:

Condition: Perfect.

 

References:

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1977, cat. 246

Oort & Kater 1982, p.155

Hervouët 1986, cat. 9.42

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 119

Jörg 2002/2, cat. 100

Jörg 2002/3, pp. 167-176

Sargent 2012, p.304

MacGuire 2023, cat. 207

CohenandCohen.co.uk, REF No. 6375

 

Price: € 749 Currency Converter

 

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Merian, Maria Sybille (1647-1717)

 

German/Dutch botanist Maria Sybille Merian (1647-1717) worked as a botanical artist. She published collections of engravings of plants in 1675, 1677 and 1680. She collected and observed live insects and created detailed drawings to illustrate insect metamorphosis. In 1699 the city of Amsterdam sponsored Merian to travel to Surinam were she made sketching of local animals and plants. In 1701 malaria forced her return to Holland, in 1705 she published a book Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium about the insects of Surinam.  

(picture from: findagrave.com)

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2011590

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Merian, Maria Sybille (1647-1717) - Page 1

 

Object 2011590

 

Dish

 

China

 

c.1745

 

Height 27 mm (1.06 inch), diameter of rim 230 mm (9.06 inch), diameter of footring 122 mm (4.80 inch), weight 341 grams (11.03 ounce (oz.))

 

Dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in underglaze blue with a butterfly and two flowers (iris and anemone). On the anemone, a large caterpillar. A second caterpillar is found on a lower leaf. On the sides a decorative border of intertwined leaves with flower heads. On the rim intertwined floral and foliate scrolls amongst which small flowers. The reverse is undecorated.

 

Maria Sybille Merian (Frankfurt am Main 1647- Amsterdam 1717) was born into a prominent Frankfurt family of publishers and artists. After the death of her biological father Matthäus Merian in 1650, her mother remarried Jacob Marrel (1614-1681), a German still-life painter and art dealer in 1651. Marrel mainly painted still lifes with flowers and was an apprentice of the famous Georg Flegel and Jan Davidszn. De Heem. Maria Sibylla received her artistic training from him and his students. By the age of eleven, she could already engrave a copperplate. Merian published her first three books with her own flower pictures, the so-called Blümenbucher in 1675, 1677 and 1680. She was helped by her husband Johann Andreas Graff, who she had married in 1665. He was a former student of her stepfather. 

 

Beside her study of flowers and plants, she was from a young age also very interested in insects, especially caterpillars and butterflies:

 

From my youth onwards I have been concerned with the study of insects, in which I began with silk-worms in my native city...then the far more beautiful butterflies and moths that developed from caterpillars other than silk-worms, which led me to collect all the caterpillars I could find in order to study their metamorphosis. 

 

Her scientific studies of the insect world, which included going into neighboring gardens to gather caterpillars, resulted in Der Raupen wunderbare Verwandelung und sonderbare Blumen-nahrung (The wonderful transformation and singular plant nourishment of caterpillars), published in 1679. Not only was she the first woman to do this, but she was the first artist-naturalist to depict these changes on the insect's food plant, with the insects as the star. This view was quite unusual because worms and insects, which caused plant and crop damage, were seen as bringing hunger and poverty. Many of the lowliest insects were regarded as the Devil's brood, born of filth, mud and decaying organic matter. In 1683 her second Raupenbuch was published.

 

In the summer of 1685 Merian left Frankfurt with her mother and two daughters to join her widowed stepbrother, Caspar at a Labadist community in West-Friesland, in the Netherlands. Followers of Jean de Labadie (1610-1674), abandoned all worldly ways and established self-sufficient communities. Probably more important to Sybille Merian was the fact that the Labadists considered marriage bonds dissolved unless both spouses converted. For her it was the chance for a new beginning.

 

In 1691 when the Labadist community was no longer able to sustain itself Merian moved to Amsterdam with her two daughters. Maria Sibylla Merian made a living dealing in paints, giving lessons, and selling her watercolors. All these activities drew Merian into a stimulating and influential circle of Dutch artists and natural history and botanical scientists, many of whom already knew her work. Merian was thus also introduced to many private collections which showed strange and exotic specimens, provided by the tradesmen of the West and East Dutch India Companies.

 

In 1699 the city of Amsterdam sponsored Merian to travel to Surinam with her daughter Dorothea Maria. In 1701 malaria forced her return to Holland, but her dream had been fulfilled, and she brought home a wealth of recorded observations and specimens. In 1705 she published a book in Latin and Dutch, Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium about the insects of Surinam, containing 60 plates. In 1713 and 1714 she published Dutch editions of the first two Raupenbücher, followed by a third volume which was published by her daughter posthumously after her death in1717.

 

Merian's work influenced botanical illustration throughout the eighteenth century. Her decors also appeared on both faience made at the Höchst and Strassbourg manufactories and on Chine de commande porcelain.

 

The design on this Chine de commande plate as well as the famille rose version has long been attributed to Maria Sibylla Merian, although the exact source remained unclear, as the complete image was not found in her books.

However, Charlotte Jacob-Hanson has discovered in 2000 that this design is in fact composed out of at least four different engravings from the third volume of Maria Sybille Merian's Raupenbuch.

 

The iris and the anemone in the centre closely resemble ones in Plates 20 and 34. The Cinnabar Moth (Phalaena Jacobaea) resembles one in Plate 28 and the larger caterpillar (Cerura vinula) on the anemone has been taken from Plate 39, where it was depicted on a willow tree branch with its chrysalis.The caterpillar on the lower leaf has not been identified. The four identified elements from Merian’s third Raupenbuch have been compiled in one picture by Jacob-Hanson to clearly demonstrate her carefull analysis.

 

The unusual border design can also be found on three armorial services for the Dutch market. Two show the Merian border en grisaille, that of the families De Marre and Den(e)ijs.  Another grisaille example is illustrated in Hervouët: a plate with a decoration Les deux Fontaines after B. Picart, dated circa 1750. The third armorial service is a tea service with the arms of the Mossel family, decorated mainly in underglaze blue heightened with gold. Like the other two services it can be dated around 1740. 

 

There are two variants of the design in underglaze blue. The first one is found almost exclusively on plates, just like the famille rose version. These were most likely ordered at the same time. It has a darkblue border heigtened with golden flowerheads on the cavetto. The second variant was problably ordered somewhat later and has another border design on the cavetto, much more detailed and of a lighter blue. Of this later version, more different shapes are known.

 

For similarly in 'Merian-style' decorated dishes, please see:

For similar 'Merian' dishes, decorated in polychrome enamels, please see:

Condition: Two glaze rough spots to the rim and a glaze hairline to the base not visible at he front.

 

References:

Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 1, cat. 334 & 298

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982, cat. 51

Boulay 1984, cat. 15

Hervouët 1986, cat. 7.115

London 1990, lot 220

Howard 1994, plate 60

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 334

Jacob-Hanson 2000, pp.174-183, Pl.VI & VII 

London 2002, lot 416

Kroes 2007, pp.209-210, cat. 122,& pp.284-286, cat. 199 & 200

Sargent 2012, cat. 87 & 120

MacGuire 2023, cat. 211

 

Price: € 599 Currency Converter

 

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2011522

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Merian, Maria Sybille (1647-1717) - Page 1

 

Object 2011522

 

Dish

 

China

 

c.1740

 

Height 45 mm (1.77 inch), diameter of rim 352 mm (13.86 inch), diameter of footring 145 mm (5.71 inch), weight 556 grams (19.61 ounce (oz.))

 

Dish on footring, flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in underglaze blue and gold with two flowers, one iris the other possibly a peony variant encircled by a decorative border in underglaze blue with flower heads in gold. On the sides and rim intertwined floral and foliate scrolls. The decoration in gold has completely rubbed off but is still visible in ghost form.

 

German/Dutch botanist Maria Sybille Merian (1647-1717), described the insects of the West Indies, Surinam in particular. For the central decoration on this specific dish, no matching print of her has been found. The intertwined floral and foliate scrolls decoration on the sides make that this dish can be categorised as a "Merian-style" dish.

 

Sargent states that with regard to the polychrome enamel "Merian" dishes, four separate engravings from the third volume of Maria Sybille Merian's Raupenbuch (Caterpillar Book), published posthumously by her daughter in 1717, were used to compose the illustration on this plate and those in blue and white as well. (Sargent 2012, p.245)

 

For an identically in "Merian-style" decorated dish, please see:

For similar "Merian" dishes, decorated in polychrome enamels, please see:

Condition: The decoration in gold has completely rubbed off but is still visible in ghost form. Firing flaws to the base and footring, two fleabites and a frit to the rim.

 

References:

Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. 1, cat. 334

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1982, cat. 51

Boulay 1984, cat. 15

Howard 1994, plate 60

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 334

London 2002, lot 416

Sargent 2012, p.183 & cat. 120

 

Price: € 399 Currency Converter

 

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2010873
2010873

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Merian, Maria Sybille (1647-1717) - Page 1

 

Object 2010873

 

Dish

 

China

 

Qianlong period (1736-1795), c.1740

 

Height 27 mm (1.06 inch), diameter of rim 230 mm (9.06 inch), diameter of footring 122 mm (4.80 inch), weight 341 grams (11.03 ounce (oz.))

 

Dish on footring, flat underglaze brown-edged rim (jia mangkou). Decorated in underglaze blue and gold with a single flowering stem. On the sides a stylized border and on the rim foliated scrolls tied with a ribbon in the middle with a double knot, the so called 'love-knot', alternating with a single "shell' like motif. On the reverse two flower sprays.

 

German/Dutch botanist Maria Sybille Merian (1647-1717), described the insects of the West Indies, Surinam in particular. For the central decoration on this specific dish, no matching print of her has been found. The decoration of the central flowering stem makes that this dish can be categorised as a 'Merian-style' dish. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.287)

 

For another sold "Merian-style" style dish, please see:

Condition: A frit to the rim and some fits and chips to the footring.

 

References:

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 334

Sargent 2012, p.183

 

Price: € 299 Currency Converter

 

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Pronk, Cornelis (1691-1759) 

 

From 1700 onwards, Chinese porcelain with Western depictions became highly in demand. This so-called Chine de commande was made to order for private Western traders, which earned them a lot of money. The Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC), which had started to actively purchase porcelain in Canton after 1728, also wanted to get in on this specific trade. In 1734, as an experiment, the Dutch East India Company board, the Heren XVII, commissioned the Amsterdam artist Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759) to design depictions for services and other porcelains. He then designed a chinoiserie, a depiction in Chinese style, featuring a Chinese lady at the waterside and a female servant holding an umbrella. These drawings with the designs, which are now known as the Parasoldames (the parasol ladies) were sent to Batavia and from there to China, where porcelain, decorated after this example, was ordered in 1736. The coloured drawn plate design has been preserved and is now part of the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. The High Government ordered porcelain conform to these drawings in both China and Japan.

 

Pronk Porselein was manufactured in three versions: in Imari, overglaze enamels as well as in underglaze blue. It was very well received in the Netherlands, however production costs in China proved to be so high that sales earned a minimum profit, which soon caused the Dutch Ears India Company to cease the commissioning of this type of porcelain. Besides the Parasoldames Pronk also drew other drafts: the Vier Doktoren (the four doctors), the Prieel (the arbour) and the Handwassing (hand-washing). Chinese porcelain was manufactured to order after these drawings as well, however its production was later also ceased because it proved to be costly as well. (Source: Groninger Museum)

Pronk, Cornelis (1691-1759)

 

The 'Parasol Lady', 1735

 

1-35414

 

Cornelis Pronk, design for a dish with "The Parasol Lady" motif, 1734 - 1738, executed in watercolours 19.1 cm x 16.2 cm, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. 

 

The 'Parasol Lady' was the first design sent to Batavia in 1736. The High Government ordered porcelain conform to these drawings in both China and Japan. There are different varieties done in Imari, overglaze enamels as well as in underglaze blue. 

  

Pronk’s original design shows a lady standing at the water's edge, who is making a gesture with her hands towards three birds on the ground in front of her. On the right, obliquely behind her, stands a maid servant holding an ornate parasol. Interestingly, two of the birds are identified as the ruff (Dutch: kemphaan) and the spoonbill (Dutch: lepelaar), both of which are native to Holland.

 

Pronk’s design source(s) are not known. But already in the early seventeenth century the parasol was used in European chinoiserie  designs as a depiction of the exotic life in the Far East. Figures wearing robes and with an umbrella can also be found in patterns of the famous chinoiserie designer Johann Gregor Höroldt (1696-1775) of the Meissen Factory. Parasols have been known in China for more than 2000 years and are included in the eight Buddhist symbols. Being held above the head of an official, it is emblematic of rank. The Umbrella of Ten Thousand People is also considered a symbol of dignity and high rank and a token of respect and purity. The Daoist Queen of the West, Hsi Wang Mu, is usually depicted with one or two servants holding a fan or parasol. She may also be accompanied by a crane and peaches, both representing eternal life. Another possibility is that Pronk’s design was based on a Japanese source, perhaps a print (ukiyo-e). Women with parasols were a popular subject for the Japanese artists.

 

This particular Pronk design enjoyed great popularity. It is the only Pronk drawing of which various examples exist in Chinese as well as Japanese porcelain.

 

As mentioned Pronk's design of the 'Parasol Lady' was also used on Japanese porcelain. It was not ordered by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) but commissioned by private Dutch traders. On Japanese pieces, the Chinese ladies have become Japanese with their characterristic hairstyles and kimonos. Pronk designs were still in great demand, particularly the Parasol Lady, when VOC orders for this type of porcelain declined. Simplified versions were made at the artists' initiative, where both early Chinese and Japanese versions were used as models. (Jörg 2002/2, pp.144-145)    

 

In Chinese porcelain there are even interpretations of the design by the Chinese porcelain painters themselves, maybe meant for the own domestic market as an exotic item, an 'Europeanerie'. In this case the left lady is replaced by a little boy (‘zotje’ ). Furthermore, the design was also widely copied in Europe, for example by the Venetian Porcelain Factory Cozzi, the Dutch Ouder-Amstel Porcelain Factory and also by Delft factories. At Delft, there were plain white objects decorated with the Chinese version of the Parasol Ladies. Until the mid to late 19th century the pattern of the 'Parasol Lady' was still used on European porcelain, for example at the famous Herendt Factory in Hungary and at the Porcelain Factory of Maastricht, the Netherlands

 

Even more unique, recently a thus far unrecorded clobbered or Amsterdam Bont overdecorated pair of bowls was discovered, were the Delft painter didn’t quite respect the original underglaze blue 'Parasol Lady' design, please see:

Currently there are no original Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759), The 'Parasol Lady', 1735 wares for sale.

Imitations of Pronk Porcelain

 

For the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) porcelain made to order after the drawings by Cornelis Pronk proved not to be profitable enough. Private traders however, saw how well it sold, which prompted them to commission simplified versions. This was the beginning of the production of all sorts of blue and coloured versions of this ware, among others of tea ware and of plates. Quite extraordinary were the Japanese imitations of Pronk Porcelain, which featured Japanese geishas instead of the well-known Chinese parasol ladies. This variant was later in turn copied in China as well. After it arrived in the Netherlands, blue Chinese porcelain was occasionally over-decorated in enamel colours (Amsterdams Bont), whereby the Pronk motif was copied as well. English imitations were seen far into the 19th century, while this motif even appears to have still been applied on Maastricht ware of as late approximately 1900. (Source: Groninger Museum)

2012055
2012055

Chine de commande - Western Subjects 1680-1800 - Western Designers - Pronk, Cornelis (1691-1759) - Page 1

 

Object 2012055

 

Dish

 

China

 

c.1750

 

Height 31 mm (1.22 inch), diameter of rim 228 mm (8.98 inch), diameter of footring 117 mm (4.61 inch), weight 343 grams (12.10 ounce (oz.))

 

Dish on footring, flat rim. Decorated in various famille rose enamels and gold with a scene reminiscent of Pronk's 'Parasol Lady' design, with a lady standing in a fenced garden gesturing at two pheasants in front of her and her attendant holding a tasselled parasol. Various flowering plants are growing from behind the fence. On the sides a stylised border and on the rim three sprays with flowering plants and fruiting pomegranate and Buddha's hand citron (Citrus medica). The reverse is undecorated.  

 

As mentioned Pronk's design of the 'Parasol Lady' was also used on Japanese porcelain. It was not ordered by the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) but commissioned by private Dutch traders. On Japanese pieces, the Chinese ladies have become Japanese with their characteristic hairstyles and kimonos. Pronk designs were still in great demand, particularly the Parasol Lady, when VOC orders for this type of porcelain declined. Simplified versions were made at the artists' initiative, where both early Chinese and Japanese versions were used as models. This dish is such late Chinese variant decorated in famille rose enamels.

 

The design on this dish is an excellent example of an interpretation of Pronk's 'Parasol Lady' design by the Chinese porcelain painters themselves, maybe meant for the own domestic market as an exotic item, an 'Europeanerie'. In this case the waterbirds beside marsh grasses have been replaced by pheasants in a fenced peony garden, while the insects on the reverse have been deleted. Furthermore, the design was also widely copied in Europe, for example by the Venetian Porcelain Factory Cozzi, the Dutch Ouder-Amstel Porcelain Factory and Delft factories. At Delft, there were plain white objects decorated with the Chinese version of the Parasol Ladies. Until the mid to late 19th century the pattern of the 'Parasol Lady' was still used on European porcelain, for example at the famous Herendt Factory in Hungary and at the Porcelain Factory of Maastricht, the Netherlands.

 

For identically decorated dishes with this Chinese variant of Pronk's the 'Parasol Lady' design, please see:

For other objects decorated with a Chinese variant of Pronk's the 'Parasol Lady' design, please see:

Condition: A firing flaw and a frit and fleabite to the footring, some wear to the enamels.

 

References:

Vries 1923, pp.8-9

Goldsmith Phillips 1956, cat. 33

Beurdeley 1962, cat. 32-35

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1966, cat. 185

Park 1973, cat. 12 & 13

Corbeiller 1974, cat. 24

Gordon 1977, cat. 72

Howard & Ayers 1978, vol. I, pp.292-296

Jörg 1980, cat. 34

Jörg 1982/1, cat. 31-35 & cat. 40

Arts 1983, Plate 53a/b

Boulay 1984, p.262, nr. 4

Oka 1985, pp.69-76

Lunsingh Scheurleer 1989, cat. 182

Jörg 1989/2, cat. 45 & 46

Howard 1994, cat. 53 & cat. 57

Jorg 1996, fig. 85

Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 328a/b & cat. 329

Arita 2000, cat. 76-79

Jörg 2002/2, cat. 98 & 99

Jörg 2003/1, cat. 324 & 325

Litzenburg 2003, cat. 170

Fuchs & Howard 2005, cat. 24

New York 2008, lot 253

Sargent 2012, cat. 143

London 2014/1, cat.44

 

Price: € 2.499 Currency Converter

 

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