KRAAK PORCELAIN with the EGRET mark.
WANLI MING : 1576 - 1626
________________________________________
The egret ( or stork ) is the only mark to appear exclusively on Wanli Kraak ware. This mark always appears on better than average pieces, with well defined moulded designs and carefull painting. The cobalt is consistently deep blue with silvery shades . These characteristics, along with the rarity of wares bearing the "egret" mark, indicate that this group of porcelain was made only in one particular kiln . Only 45 egret-marked wares are known, and even located .( f.e.: 3 are in the Topkapi Saray Museum, 1 in the Kobe City Museum in Japan , 4 in the USA , 23 in the Netherlands , 3 in France . By division into groups, there are 5 "klapmutsen" , 11 saucers from 9 cm diam , and the remainder are dishes of approx. 20 cm diam , among which the ones with " border type VI , of which there exsists 17 .
In her book " Kraak Porcelain ", Maura RINALDI ( 1996 ) has a chapter devoted entirely to " egret-marked " porcelain : p. 195 - p.208 , with pictures of most of them .
By our knowledge, there has been only 1 " egret-marked " dish in public auction during the last decade: " Asian Art " , Amsterdam : 20/5/2008 , catal. n° 9 ( the design in the center was a reclining horse) .
Two others were included in : " Ming Blue & White ", Marchant & Son ( UK),exhibition catal. 2004 , nrs. 42 - 43.
The " egret" bird is symbol of longevity .