Notes:
The pattern for this plate is based on a design by the Amsterdam artist Cornelis Pronk (1691-1754), who was commissioned by the V.O.C. (Dutch East India Company) to create patterns for porcelain. A cup and saucer with a similar design dated to 1736-38 similarly without the border cartouches is illustrated in C.J.A. Jorg, 'Pronk Porcelain' (1980), p. 65, pl. 18. A watercolour by Pronk produced in 1734-36 with a similar design can be found in the Rijksmuseum Collection; RP-T-1967-18. The first of Pronk's four designs 'the lady with a parasol' was also ordered in imari, famille rose and later from Japanese kilns. The pattern was quickly copied by the Chinese for private sale in Canton. For further details and to see an illustration of a similar blue and white plate with the addition of border panels see David S. Howard, 'The Choice of the Private Trader', p. 73, pl. 53. For an imari example of this pattern see William R. Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics from the Peabody Essex Museum, p. 277, pl. 143
