Kraak Plate Design Sequence 1550-1655

Von der Porten, Edward; Shangraw, Clarence

This report covers the thirteen Kraak plate design sequences. During the Ming Dynasty’s Wan-li era the great Chinese porcelain trade emerged. These porcelains have been little studied until recently. Now using archaeological data from the People’s Republic of China, reliable dates and provenances are being established for these porcelains. In the West, research is augmented by knowledge derived from the porcelain cargoes retrieved from the remains of firmly dated shipwrecks of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from commissioned porcelains bearing sixteenth century European coats-of-arms, and from reliable inventories of collectors’ cabinets in Europe, particularly in royal collections. Kraakporselein, a Dutch term for the blue-on-white porcelains, were first transported to Europe by the Portuguese. The Kraak plate series probably began about 1550 with the development of plates with white rim strips and cavettos. Over time the Kraak plates developed thirteen types of plate patterns, with the older types being replaced by newer ones. This report covers the thirteen Kraak plate design sequences.