Page 20 - For the Love of Porcelain
P. 20

A Beaker of




                               Transitional                            Porcelain                                       he irst Chine de Commande for the Dutch?









                                                                                                                       in her publication Ming Porcelain for a Globalised Trade, eva Ströber highlighted Chinese porcelain

                                                                                                                       from the ming dynasty (1368–1644) in the collection of the Princessehof National museum of

                                                                                                                       Ceramics in Leeuwarden.
                                                                                                                                                                                                Christiaan J.A. Jörg


























           1                                                                                                                                                                                     2-3
                Beaker, 1635 - 45,                                                                                                                                                               Beaker, 1635 - 45,
                      h. 14 cm,                                                                                                                                                                  h. 14 cm,
               dia. mouth 9.8 cm,                                                                                                                                                                dia. mouth 9.8 cm,
              dia. footring 7.4 cm,                                                                                                                                                              dia. footring 7.4 cm,
                 private collection                                                                                                                                                              private collection

                                                                                                                       In the last decade of that dynasty a new  Historical context
                                                                                                                       type of export porcelain, partly produced  The history of the porcelain trade of
                                                                                                                       especially for the Dutch East India  the VOC in this period is well known. 2
                                                                                                                       Company (VOC), came into being. In her   After settling in Batavia, the Company
                                                                                                                       book, Eva paid attention to some examples   experienced difficulties in obtaining the
                                                                                                                                                   1
                                                                                                                       of these so-called Transitional wares.  In this   profitable Chinese trade commodities.
                                                                                                                       contribution I would like to describe an  In 1624, following complex political and
                                                                                                                       unusual piece from this period, a Chinese  military efforts, a stronghold could be
                                                                                                                       porcelain beaker with a decoration in Dutch   built on the island of Taiwan, then called
                                                                                                                       style. (figs. 1-3).                  Formosa. From this Zeelandia Castle a

                               16  I  vormen uit vuur                                                                                                                            vormen uit vuur  I  17
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