This dish belongs to a group of Chinese export porcelain commissioned by the Dutch East India Company between 1734 and 1738, and decorated with patterns specifically created by the Dutch painter and designer Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759). The scene on this dish, entitled 'The Doctors' or 'The Doctors Visiting the Emperor', was designed by Pronk in 1735 and sent to China in 1736, arriving only at the end of 1737. Employed on dishes and decorative items, the finished products decorated with the design were sent back to the Netherlands at the end of 1738 and in 1739. In 1739 a second, simpler version of the design with only three figures was sent to China. This scene was originally designed after a motif in traditional Chinese iconography, illustrating the legend of the woodcutter Wang Shi who encountered three Daoist gods playing chess in a cave. The elaborate border of fish in cartouches was a common characteristic of export porcelain with Pronk's designs. Between 1738 and 1739 five teas services and eighteen mantelpieces with this design were exported to the Netherlands. Due to the high costs of importing privately commissioned pieces the Dutch East India stopped production. Physical description Porcelain dish, painted in overglaze polychrome enamels and gold with a group of four sages seated around a small table on which is a dish; two of them hold a fish, and beside them on a fence is a peacock. The rim is decorated with panels containing fish, interspersed with birds and trellis-work. On the lower side of the rim is a trellis-work border. Place of Origin China (made) Date ca. 1738 (made) Artist/maker Unknown (maker) Materials and Techniques Porcelain painted in overglaze enamels and gilded Dimensions Diameter: 17.1 cm Descriptive line Dish, porcelain painted in overglaze enamels and gilded after a design by Cornelis Pronk, Canton, China, ca. 1738 Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) p.60, pl.77 Kerr p. 113 Lu, Zhangshen, chief ed. Passion for Porcelain: masterpieces of ceramics from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Beijing: National Museum of China, 2012. Materials Porcelain Techniques Painted; Glazed; Gilded Subjects depicted Trellis; Fish; Peacocks; Men Categories Ceramics; Porcelain Collection East Asia Collection
This dish belongs to a group of Chinese export porcelain commissioned by the Dutch East India Company between 1734 and 1738, and decorated with patterns specifically created by the Dutch painter and designer Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759). The scene on this dish, entitled 'The Doctors' or 'The Doctors Visiting the Emperor', was designed by Pronk in 1735 and sent to China in 1736, arriving only at the end of 1737. Employed on dishes and decorative items, the finished products decorated with the design were sent back to the Netherlands at the end of 1738 and in 1739. In 1739 a second, simpler version of the design with only three figures was sent to China. This scene was originally designed after a motif in traditional Chinese iconography, illustrating the legend of the woodcutter Wang Shi who encountered three Daoist gods playing chess in a cave. The elaborate border of fish in cartouches was a common characteristic of export porcelain with Pronk's designs. Between 1738 and 1739 five teas services and eighteen mantelpieces with this design were exported to the Netherlands. Due to the high costs of importing privately commissioned pieces the Dutch East India stopped production. Physical description Porcelain dish, painted in overglaze polychrome enamels and gold with a group of four sages seated around a small table on which is a dish; two of them hold a fish, and beside them on a fence is a peacock. The rim is decorated with panels containing fish, interspersed with birds and trellis-work. On the lower side of the rim is a trellis-work border. Place of Origin China (made) Date ca. 1738 (made) Artist/maker Unknown (maker) Materials and Techniques Porcelain painted in overglaze enamels and gilded Dimensions Diameter: 17.1 cm Descriptive line Dish, porcelain painted in overglaze enamels and gilded after a design by Cornelis Pronk, Canton, China, ca. 1738 Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no) p.60, pl.77 Kerr p. 113 Lu, Zhangshen, chief ed. Passion for Porcelain: masterpieces of ceramics from the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Beijing: National Museum of China, 2012. Materials Porcelain Techniques Painted; Glazed; Gilded Subjects depicted Trellis; Fish; Peacocks; Men Categories Ceramics; Porcelain Collection East Asia Collection