A rare deep Chinese blue and white kraak porcelain bowl with 'egret' mark, Wanli

Dia.: 8 cm -  H.: 3 cm

Ref.: Rinaldi, Kraak Porcelain, p. 195: '... the egret always appears on better than average pieces, made with good quality clay, with well defined moulded designs and careful painting. The cobalt is consistently deep blue with silvery shades. The forty-five Kraak wares with the egret mark noted below are the pieces the author has been able to identify. (...) It is impossible to establish how many more there are in unknown collections. (...) Among the unusual pieces, there are three small saucers with monochrome blue underside (Pl. 267). One of them has a typical Kraak motif on the inside: a double-gourd with tassels and ribbons, which in this case covers most of the inside. If it were not for this motif being associated with the egret mark and the thinness of the body, one would not think of these pieces as being Kraak since they have a straight rim without moth-eaten edge.' The author published these three. One of these was in a private collection in The Netherlands, while the two others both are in The Butler Family collection. (p. 206-207)