English Delftware Lobed Dish

A fine English delftware lobed charger, painted in blue, manganese and ochre-yellow with chinoiserie decoration. The central roundel depicts a standing Oriental figure beneath stylised foliage, framed within a floral border. The cavetto and shaped rim are painted with repeated scenes of Chinese figures, rocks and plants, all executed in a distinctive naïve hand.
The scalloped edge of the dish, together with its palette and figural treatment, firmly situates it within the English delftware tradition rather than Dutch majolica. Comparable examples are recorded from both the London (Southwark/Lambeth) and Bristol potteries, where chinoiserie decoration was particularly fashionable in the late 17th century in response to imported Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and the European taste for “exotic” subjects.
While Dutch Delft dishes of the same period exist, they are generally more finely potted and painted with greater precision. This example, with its heavier body, soft tin glaze, and freer brushwork, corresponds to English production. The use of the strong yellow/ochre highlights is also characteristic of English delftware of the last quarter of the 17th century.