Provenance:
- Possibly Potken Family, Ceylon, c. 1720
- Private Collection, The Netherlands, 2019
Condition Report Available
€ 12,500
This object can be viewed in our gallery.
A pair of Chine-de-Commande underglaze blue plates with broad flat rims, decorated with an armorial shield. The broad rim of the plate has a band of radiating flower stems including daisies, narcissus, anemones and iris. The centre of the plate has a ring with a denser flower and foliage pattern. In the centre is circular medallion in the reserve with the outline of a shield, with a cooking pot or cauldron. The underside has a lozenge (hua) within a double blue circle, with two flower sprays on the rim. The shape and decoration of this plate clearly indicate it was intended for the export market. Amusingly, the pot is incorrectly represented by the Chinese potters, as it is depicted upside down within the shield.
The armorial device on these plates, are popularly referred to as those of ‘Potken’. This shield is probably using the pot as ‘punning arms’ (sprekend wapen), the cauldron being a fun reference to the name of the family. It is thought that these plates were possibly made for the Dutch Potken family from Oldenzaal (Overijssel) – who had strong VOC connections. Gerardus Potken (1695-1762) spent his adult life as a vicar in Columbo, the capital of Ceylon; which meant he would have had good contacts for ordering personalised Chinese porcelain. The other suggested possibility is that it is for the Portuguese family of Caldería – also a pun on their name.
The armorial device, shape and decoration of this plate all point to it being made to order by the Dutch East India traders. The flat shape and broad rim of this plate, suggest that a Dutch pewter plate may well have served as an example. The decoration on the rim also clearly shows Western influence in the slightly stiff repetition of different flowers, probably based on comparable European printed designs.
The Frelinghuysen Collection, USA, has three plates with the same decoration. Plates with a similar floral décor, but without the armorial shield, are in the Groninger Museum (inv.nr. 2001.0105), Kasteel Sypensteyn (inv.nr.8360) and Schwarzenberg Family Collection, Prague (inv.nr. CDU 131).
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