Lot 185
BLUE AND WHITE 'BATAVIA' SAUCER WITH ENGRAVED EUROPEAN DECORATION
QING DYNASTY, KANGXI PERIOD
Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art
Auction: 5 November 2021 at 10:00 GMT
Description
清康熙 青花褐彩加歐洲雕飾紋碟
the exterior has a rich brown ground (Batavia ware) which has wheel engraved decoration of stylised flowering foliage
Dimensions
11.5cm diameter
Provenance
Provenance: Private collection from the Scottish Borders, comprising Asian Art collected over 50 years
Footnote
Note: The current owner met Dr Barbara Harrisson (1922-2015), Director and Chief of Ceramicist at the Princessehof Museum in Leeuwarden, in the early 1980s in person and acquired the following information:
It was a Dutch custom during the 17th-18th centuries for husbands to mark birthdays etc. and anniversaries by presenting their wives with a piece of blue-and-white porcelain or glassware. The porcelain was imported via Batavia, the Dutch name for what became Jakarta and was often partially glazed with favoured tea-coloured slip and known as ‘Batavian Ware’.
It was known historically that a travelling Bohemian glasscutter had been in Holland around 1790 and had been embellishing glassware and also Batavian ware with incised artwork. The purpose was to enhance the traditional family gifts. The Princessehof had five examples of his work on porcelain.