EDO PERIOD, C.1730-40After the Cornelis Pronk design, painted in underglaze blue, gilt, and polychrome enamels with a kimono-clad beauty and her attendant beneath a parasol, three aquatic birds before them and bulrushes in the background; the cavetto and rim embellished with borders of flowers, diamond-shaped patterns, four various birds and further figures, the reverse with seven insects painted in iron-red underneath the rim, 13cm.Provenance: from an English private collection, London.Cf. C Jörg, Fine & Curious, Japanese Export Porcelain in Dutch Collections, p.253, no.325, for a larger example in the Groninger Museum, Groningen. The author explains that the decoration was designed by Dutch artist Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759), who was commissioned in 1734 by the VOC to produce models for Chinese and Japanese porcelain factories. The models arrived in 1736, but no agreement on costs could be reached with the Japanese and no official shipments are recorded. Nevertheless, this design is known in underglaze blue and Imari and so, it must have been privately ordered by Dutch employees.See the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, access. no. 2002.447.121 for another example of a Japanese 'Dame au Parasol' dish. Also, see the Kyushu Ceramic Museum, Complete Catalogue of the Shibata Collection, p.393, no.3136 for another related example.