Description:
Plate fragment of Dutch delft with deep blue decoration and a yellow edge. The plate is decorated with a central vase of flowers and ferns ("peacock's tail" or "fan"), and the rim has alternating scrolled, butterfly-like (or Chinese cloud) designs and stylized baskets of flowers. The "peacock's tail" or "fan"motif is very characteristic of the late production at Delft. The plate fragment has a typical Dutch pattern, yellow glaze on the rim, and seems to have "kwaart", an additional layer of translucent lead glaze, typical of finer quality Dutch work. Plates and dishes with this pattern were produced in different sizes by several workshops. Decorated in blue and white or polychrome, they were made over a long period and were meant for daily use, not for decorative display. The outer rim of plates with this design may be yellow, orange, brown, or white, and either round or sculpted. They must have been from large dinner services, since many such plates have survived. With its dramatic central gadrooned vase holding a symmetrical arrangement that could be either peacock feathers or a bouquet of sunflowers and tall ferns, this sort of plate is called a pauwenbord, or peacock plate, or less often, a waaierbord, or fan plate. This design is so common that its origins have not been considered. The motif appears to be an extremely stylized derivative of Chinese export ware known as kraak porcelain, which was popular much earlier. The central motifs of both designs consist of a vase on a stand, filled with a luxurious bouquet. Not only are the central designs similar, but the border designs of both Chinese kraak porcelain and Dutch pauwenborden are divided into alternating narrow and wide panels. The motifs on the border are derivations of Chinese auspicious symbols, which Dutch painters reproduced without knowing their symbolism. For more information see Ella B. Schaap, Delft Ceramics at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, (2003), p. 72.
Subjects:
Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+91.244 |
