Description:
Dutch delft circular stand decorated in purple-black with a chinoiserie landscape scene with a standing figure in the shallow circular well and four landscape scenes, each with a man seated or standing, around the broad, flat rim, which the donor found in Athol, Massachusetts. This "Chinese scholar-in-grasses" (or rocks in this example) scene was probably the most popular motif in the last quarter of the 17th century. The design was copied from Chinese porcelain by European potters, and it can be difficult to know if a piece is English, Dutch, or German, especially since they also used the same molded form. The design has been found in combinations of blue, green, yellow and purple. On Ming Transitional hard paste porcelain (early to mid 17th century), figures of this type represented scholars. On English and Continental tin-glazed earthenware dishes such figures often are referred to as "seated Chinese scholar" or, more specifically, "Chinese scholar among grasses" or "Chinese scholar among rocks." Some Western imitations are so highly stylized that it is difficult to recognize the figures. The plate shown here illustrates a decorative style called trek, copied from Dutch tin glaze, for which design outlines were executed in purple or dark blue and then filled in corresponding washes of color. For English example, see Frank Britton, "English Delftware in the Bristol Collection", p. 170. #11.4, 11.6. Stand is profile A. Similar dishes to this example are shown in The Edwin Van Drecht Collection catalogue (1995), figures 89, 90, and are marked DPAW 15.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+91.162 |
