Chinese Pronk plate 'Arbor'

Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759) was a Dutch artist from Amsterdam known for his precise drawings of towns, landscapes, and historic buildings. After training as a portrait painter under Arnold Boonen (1669-1729), he became especially respected for his detailed topographical drawings, many of which were later engraved and published. In addition to painting and drawing, Pronk also created decorative designs, including patterns for porcelain.

In 1734 the Dutch East India Company (VOC) commissioned Pronk to design porcelain that could be produced in China for the European market. He signed a three-year contract with the Company and received a salary of about 1,200 guilders per year. Each year he was required to produce a new design, including both the shape of the pieces and the decorative motifs. Several copies of the drawings were made so they could be sent on different ships to Asia. Some of these drawings are still preserved at the Rijksmuseum.
At that time Chinese goods such as tea, silk, and porcelain formed an important part of the VOC’s trade. After China reopened its maritime trade in 1684, Chinese merchants regularly sailed with large junks to Batavia. From 1729 onwards the Company also organised direct voyages to Canton in order to secure supplies for the European market. Pronk’s designs were sent to Asia and the VOC ordered a limited assortment including dinner services, tea services, vases with basins, and decorative mantelpiece sets. These were produced in several colour schemes, such as blue-and-white, enamel decoration, and the colourful Imari style with iron-red and gold.

The project was ambitious but complicated. The designs had to travel from the Netherlands to Asia before production could begin, and the finished porcelain then had to be shipped back to Europe, a process that could take several years. Because of the cost and complexity, the quantities produced were relatively limited. Pronk ultimately supplied four series of designs during his collaboration with the VOC. Today “Pronk porcelain” is valued as an important example of early Chinese export porcelain designed for European taste, illustrating the close artistic and commercial connections between Europe and China in the 18th century.

This design known as “Arbor” or “Figures in arbor” was the fourth porcelain pattern created by Cornelis Pronk for the VOC. The original design was sent to Asia in 1738 as his last official design for the VOC, although delays in shipping meant that production only began later. The composition exists in three versions: in Famille Verte, underglazes blue and in Imari.
Its design fits completely with 18th-century European gardens and only the figures give a Chinoiserie-like effect. The scene shows a leafy arbour in a park-like landscape with two ladies. Outside the arbor stand three small figures and in the foreground are shown ducks on water. In the border there are 12 cartouches containing butterflies, fruit and flowers alternately, with palmettes and shell motifs between them. It is said that the four insects on the rim are drawn from Maria 'Sibylla Merian’s Erucarum Ortus', written in 1718, and expanded in a Dutch edition published in 1730.

The production of this pattern faced no practical difficulties but again like the earlier export Pronk designes, when the VOC agents in Canton requested prices from Chinese dealers, the costs were considered very high. Only small quantities were initially ordered in one order. It is known that the VOC vessels ‘Langewijk’ (built 1734, lost in 1740) and 'Noordwijkerhout' (Unknown) brought the production to Batavia in the spring of 1740. Afterwards is was shipped to Holland via The Cape of Good Hope.

Provenance: Dutch collection.

Similar plates are in the collection of: 
-Metropolitan Museum of Art, object nr. 1984.224. (sept 2026: On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 201)
-Groninger Museum, object nr. 1945.0473.

-Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, object nr. AK-NM-13528.

Condition: Perfect. The deep plate has some warping/distortion because of the baking process.

               
'Portret van Cornelis Pronk, Cornelis van Noorde 1759'  
source: www.rijksmuseum.com.

source: C.J.A. Jorg, 'Pronk Porcelain', 1980.