Very Rare Mid 17th Century Chinese Porcelain Kraak Bowl

SALE - WAS £550 NOW £380 This extremely rare mid-17th century Chinese Kraak porcelain dish is very scarce indeed because of its diminutive size at only 8.5cm diameter x 3cm high, I have never encountered a Kraak dish of such a small size before and the provenance is excellent having been sold to Lambert & Co. directly by the BBC Antiques Roadshow's stalwart David Battie (part of his own personal extensive collection at his house) who was the Roadshow's Oriental expert for around 40 years, the longest serving cast member ever. He has personally certified its rarity and its 100% genuine mid-17th century date of manufacture and as you will of course realise, provenance of this stature is 'pure gold'. The slightly 'out of shape' circular dish itself is obviously hand-made by a potter and has minor rim-fritting around the foot edge although this may well be the legitimate product of the original potting and wood firing and also to be seen is a small dark brown blemish (imperfection, see image) once again, having appeared during the original firing process. At this date and because of the unreliable wood-firing, imperfections were fairly common on Chinese ceramics fresh out of the kiln and indeed, when pieces were specifically made for the Emperors, if they were not absolutely perfect, they were often discarded and destroyed not being of sufficient superlative quality for the divine being. The underglaze cobalt blue decoration will be familiar to scholars of Chinese ceramics produced during the 17th century and indeed, if one studies the underside images carefully, one can discern the 'chatter marks' where the piece was turned with a 'solid piece' held underneath it in order to produce the foot, another very reassuring sign. Kraak porcelain (Dutch Kraakporselein) is believed to be named after the Portuguese ships (Carracks) in which it was transported and is itself, believed to be a derivative of the Arabic term for the type of trading ships used in Renaissance Mediterranean trade. This specific type of Chinese Export porcelain was produced mainly in the late Ming Dynasty in the reign of the last Ming Emperor Wanli (1573 -1620) and It was among the first Chinese export wares to arrive in Europe in mass quantities and was frequently featured in Dutch Golden Age paintings of still life subjects with 'foreign luxuries'. Make no mistakes, this is a very rare example of a diminutive mid-17th century Chinese Kraak porcelain dish and although not absolutely 100% perfect due to firing imperfections, it is still in very good overall original condition commensurate with a mid-17th century date of manufacture. Please feel free to ask any questions or email for any further information required.