A pair of Chinese eggshell Pronk studio 'parrot and spaniel'...

Hammer

€2,200

A pair of Chinese eggshell Pronk studio 'parrot and spaniel' plates, Yongzheng/Qianlong

Description:

Dia.: 20,5 cm

This is a fine example of this rare design, traditionally attributed to the Pronk workshop, though it is probably not by Carnelis Pronk himself.The VOC set up a venture in the 1730's to make very high quality porcelains in China to specific designs produced in the West, but in the Chinese style. They employed Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk to make designs for these and he produced four sets of drawings over about three and half years that were sent out to Batavia. From there the designs were taken to Canton and the production was commissioned by Chinese agents. The designs were elaborate and used bright enamel colouring. Eventually these proved too expensive and the venture was abandoned in about 1740, though some of the designs were revived in the later 18th century, including the Parasol design for which an original drawing survives - and a ‘flowers and moth’ design recombining details from prints by Marie Sybilla Merian - which had also been used for various other details in the Pronk designs.What remains today is a rare and fascinating range of porcelains, with distinctive colouring and of a very high quality. Thus they have an appeal to serious collectors of Chinese porcelain. As the problems had developed with the costs of manufacture it seems likely that the Dutch agents in Batavia tried to simplifiy the designs and to broaden the range of designs. One pattern that was introduced featured the 'parrot and spaniel' design on the present pair, taken from a Meissen service of about 1732 using a chinoiserie drawing by Petrus Schenk.Parrots were a quick short hand for the exoticism of the Far East and also popular as pets and so a few different examples appear on designs in the Pronk workshop at this time. (source: Cohen & Cohen - link)

Condition reports:
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