Ref: Y547
Archive item - not for sale
Chinese blue and white Van Frytom style 'Deshima island' plate, 18th century, decorated in the centre with a Dutch marsh and coastal landscape with figures, a cow and the distant sails of ships, the rim with a band of scrolling waves, diameter: 7 3/4in., 19.6cm; condition: two small shallow chips to underside of rim. The view on this well-known pattern was formerly though to be of Deshima Island (near Nagasaki), the V.O.C. headquarters in Japan from 1641-1862. But it probably depicts the Dutch coastal town Scheveningen. The design is thought to be inspired by a Dutch Delft plate by the well-known pottery painter Frederick van Frytom (1652-1702). Both Chinese and Japanese examples are known. Frederik van Frijtom (c. 1632-1702) is regarded as one the most significant of 17th century Delft painters. His delicate work usually features figures standing before sprawling Dutch flat landscapes, but he appears to have been influenced not only by his own surroundings but also on occasion the Italianate rustic scenes which featured in prints and paintings of the time. For an illustrated example of a similar plate see D.S. Howard, 'The Choice of the Private Trader' (1994), p. 44, pl. 11. SOLD
