Dish

Made in Japan, this porcelain dish bears the monogram of the Dutch United East India Company, “VOC” (for Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie), as its central motif. Considered to have been the world’s first global corporation, the VOC was the only European trading company that maintained trade with Japan during the Sakoku, or closed-door policy, which lasted from 1603 to 1868. The VOC therefore had exclusive access to Japanese porcelain manufacture, which in turn attempted to answer the European demand for established Chinese designs. In 1644 war between the Ming and Qing dynasties interrupted European trade with China, and halted the flow of Chinese porcelain to European markets, a hiatus that lasted until the beginning of the eighteenth century. During the intervening period, Japan became the primary source of Asian porcelain in Europe. The dish’s underglaze blue decoration, comprised of large branches of peaches and Buddha’s hand fruits, copies Chinese porcelain of the Kangxi period (1662–1722).