c. 1660-1680

Dish

When the production and trade of Chinese export porcelain was disrupted in the seventeenth century by the dynastic transition from the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) to the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (Dutch East India Company), whose initials appear on this dish, turned to Japan for porcelain. Dishes such as this, which mimic a style of Chinese ceramics known as Kraak ware—distinguished by its underglaze blue decoration and rims with segmented designs—may have been made in Japan for use by VOC staff in their headquarters in Batavia (now Jakarta, Indonesia) as well as in their home offices in Holland.