CHINA - Lot 112

CHINA Porcelain oval dish decorated in blue underglaze with the Dutch "Folly Fort", braid around the edge. 18th century, Qianlong period (1735-1796). L.: 38 x 32.3 cm. Two chips restored on the reverse. The Dutch fort was built on a sandbank in the Pearl River, near the foreign factories of Canton (Guangzhou), at a site close to a memorial temple to Li Maoying (1200-1257) of the Song dynasty. The "Folly Forts" were a series of defensive structures put in place by the Ming dynasty Chinese to protect Guangzhou (Canton). At the beginning of the Qing dynasty, advances in gunnery rendered them useless and they fell into ruin. Several European countries, including the French and Dutch, used them as warehouses and personnel bases. The Dutch "Folly Fort" was located to the east of Guangzhou. This lot is a temporary import. The buyer must pay import charges of 5.5% (6.6% incl. VAT) of the hammer price, in addition to the usual fees. These additional costs may be refunded to the buyer on presentation of customs documents for export outside the European Union. Bibliography : C.J.A Jörg, Porcelain and the Dutch China Trade, 1982, The Hague, p. 70, no. 18 for a saucer with the same decoration and Kiinalaista Posliinia Suomessa, Chinese H. Hyvönen Porcelain in Finland, 1986, Finland, p. 147, no. 262 for a dish.