Octagonal plate

Dateca. 1680

MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delft)

DimensionsD: 8 3/4" point to point

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1978-211

DescriptionOctagonal plate without a foot ring. Blue tin glaze decorated in blue with a rough sketch of a Chinese man in a rocky landscape; on the rim, tassels alternate with five-petaled flowers.
Label TextThis was probably the most popular motif of the last quarter of the seventeenth century. The Chinese figure in a landscape is sometimes so stylized or so sloppy that it is almost unrecognizable. Octagonal plates were quite popular, but this design is frequently found on circular plates as well (see CWF accession 1989-196). A rim fragment with this pattern from a circular plate was excavated in London, and a shard from the rim of an octagonal plate with this decoration was excavated at St. Mary's City in Maryland. The motif was copied from Chinese porcelain by European potters, and it is often impossible to say with certainty whether a piece is English, German, or Dutch. The squatting Chinese figure is found on octagonal plates painted in yellow and in manganese, although the blue version is the most common. The unusual rim decoration is found also on an octagonal plate painted with a ship and on one with portraits of William and Mary.
InscribedNo
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceJellinek & Sampson Antiques, London