Rare Kangxi Kraak Style Blue and White Dish ca 1680
Within the vast gamut of Kangxi blue and white wares in general, there is a much smaller sub-category of Kangxi wares that were made in imitation of earlier Ming Dynasty kraak porcelain. While these "Kangxi kraak revival" dishes (for lack of a better term) are themselves a discrete and small sub-category, they are nevertheless a known group, and there are at least a few documented examples in the secondary literature. Most of these pieces date to the latter part of the Kangxi period, usually 1700-1720, and we do carry a few of these dishes because we have always been fascinated by this group. This particular example is one of a few published and even earlier variants, with an essentially identical plate published in Maura Rinaldi's, Kraak Porcelain, A Moment In the History of Trade, p. 232, plate 293, where she dates this style to 1680. This dish is a fine and rare example and a credit to any blue and white or kraakware collection.
Size and condition: 8 1/2 inches in diameter, 1 1/2 inches deep, 4-5 small rim frits, several small chips to footrim, a good ring when tapped.