This ‘Kraak’ bowl is decorated with vases and flowery sprigs in geometric fields. The bowl is of an exceptional quality because of the refined decoration and the magnificent serrated edge. Northern Europe saw the first examples of this porcelain in 1602 when Dutch buccaneers hijacked two Portugese vessels, or Kraken, loaded with Chinese porcelain. The popularity of this porcelain became immense and was imported by the Dutch in vast quantities for decades.
A similar bowl from a Dutch private collection can be found in Rinaldi’s reference work on Kraak Porcelain.
Literature:
Maura Rinaldi, Kraak porcelain a moment in the history of trade, London 1989, pict. 185
