Large Delftware punch bowl with “insect” border

Tin-glazed earthenware, painted in cobalt blue.
A notably large late-seventeenth-century Delft bowl, the deep rounded sides rising from a short foot and painted outside with a dense chinoiserie flower-scroll of peonies and foliage reserved against the white tin-glaze. The interior shows a bold sunflower rosette in the well, encircled on the cavetto by a ring of the so-called “insects” (stylised moths or scarabs), a favourite Delft motif of the 1680s–90s derived from kraak-porcelain models. The palette, the soft blue washes, and the packed floral ground are characteristic of Delft factories working in the last quarter of the seventeenth century.
Bowls of this impressive size were luxury tablewares, used for syllabub, posset, or—by the 1690s—mixed punch at festive gatherings. The present example’s scale, crisp painting and well-preserved glaze make it a particularly desirable survivor.
Condition
Typical rim fritting and small glaze losses; a stable interior hairline and minor kiln speckling; foot with expected wear from use. No overpainting visible.