Imari porcelain plate decorated with “The Lady with the Parasol,” from the Arita kilns.

The dish is painted in blue underglaze and with red, green, aubergine, black, lilac and gold overglaze enamels. The center is decorated with a woman and her maid, the latter sheltering the former under a parasol as they gaze at three birds among the grasses. The rim is decorated with a concentric pattern of floral friezes and a “honeycomb” lattice, with panels alternating between birds and small female figures. The reverse side of the rim is decorated with seven insects in iron-red underglaze.

This design is based on a motif known as “The Lady with the Parasol,” created by the Dutch designer Cornelis Pronk for porcelain commissioned in Asia by the Dutch East India Company. Versions of this design also exist on Chinese porcelain.

References :

JENYNS Soane, “Japanese porcelain,” pl. 46, p. 71.

Pronk Porselein, pp. 72–73.

HOWARD David & AYERS John, China for the West, vol. I, pl. 291, p. 298.