This underglaze blue dish has a central scene featuring a lady feeding three birds and her servant, a design known as ‘The Lady with the Parasol’. A wreath of flowers, different from the usual floral scroll seen on Chinese porcelain decorates the surrounding narrow concentric band. The details of the central scene are repeated in the cartouches against a honeycomb border. Such a fusion of Oriental and western designs was popular with the Europeans, who perceived the Orient as exotic. Dishes with Cornelis Pronk designs were used in dinner services in Europe. Pieces such as these were commissioned by the Dutch East India Company in the late 1730s. However, due to the high costs and huge amounts of time needed to reproduce these intricate designs, they were discontinued around 1741.
