Parasol Ladies

Feeding ducks. A typically Dutch activity, but here placed in a Chinese setting as an almost ritual meeting of man and animal. This depiction, designed by the Amsterdam artist Cornelis Pronk and painted on porcelain in the Far East, was intended for the Dutch market. In 1734, the Dutch East India Company, which controlled trade between the Netherlands and the Far East, asked Pronk to make designs for tableware decorations. These had to be depictions with a Chinese character, but in such a way that they would appeal to the Westerner. No dragons and tigers, but pleasant domestic scenes in Chinese style. These types of depictions are called chinoiseries. Pronk, who incidentally never visited China, made a number of series between 1734 and 1737.

One of those series is called The Parasol Ladies. The plate depicted here shows a lady at the water's edge. She is gesturing to three strange water birds that are standing in front of her in a row. The bird in front has its beak open. To the right behind the lady is a servant holding up a parasol. This parasol is supposed to protect the lady from the bright sun. Behind the birds is water, bordered by reeds and other vegetation. The plate is decorated in Imari style, with red, black, gold and lilac as the main colours. An inner border around the representation has eight rosettes with flower sprigs in between. The wide outer border has eight cartouches: four with a bird and four with a lady.

Plate with decoration The Parasol Ladies, 1734 – 1737, Japan, porcelain, Ø 18 cm.

The whole undertaking was a hellish job. Everything, including decorations, had to be drawn in the desired colours. Each design drawing was copied several times. This not only involved the representation itself, but also the many decorations around the representation and on the edges of plates, jugs, cups and saucers. Each object was richly decorated. There was no end to it. The series of copies was packed in a large copper box and, due to the risk of shipwreck, taken to the East in various ships. The original drawings remained at the VOC (Dutch East India Company) headquarters in Amsterdam. From Batavia, such a shipment then went to China and Japan to be exported as decoration on the porcelain. The return journey over sea was not without danger. Often the fragile porcelain was packed in chests with tea. The tea protected the porcelain and the heavy porcelain gave the ship sufficient stability.

Pronk's Parasol Ladies was one of his most popular designs, both at home and abroad. The proud owner could literally show off. In China, Pronk's decors were faithfully followed, but in Japan the potters eventually developed their own national contribution. Instead of Chinese robes, the parasol ladies were given Japanese kimonos, and their hair was pinned up in Japanese style with large pins and hair combs. When the VOC stopped trading after a few years because production was too expensive, demand continued. Others could easily meet that demand, because the designs were well-known due to their wide distribution. In Delft, for example, but also elsewhere in the Netherlands. For example, the Princessehof owns a salad bowl with The Parasol Ladies from the end of the eighteenth century, made in the Amstelporselein factory. To this day, The Parasol Ladies are available in the better porcelain shops in Japan.

Cornelis Pronk

Cornelis Pronk (1691 - 1759) was a cheerful Amsterdam bachelor. He was known for his portraits and above all for the clear city and village views he made for collectors and publishers of plates. He travelled around the country for this. In 1754 he drew the Princessehof in Leeuwarden, the palace of Maria Louise van Hessen-Kassel, also known as Marijke Meu. In addition to the dish with The Parasol Ladies, the museum also displays porcelain with two other well-known Pronk decors, namely The Gazebo and The Four Doctors.

Ienke Bosch, former board member of the Association of Friends of the Princessehof.