Deep dish on footring. Decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red, green, black and gold. In the centre a three-masted Dutch ship on the waves, a Dutchman on deck. Surrounded by a band with dragons, clouds, two dragons and two pearls. The sides with a pattern of chequered panels with a small flower. Reserved above and below a vase with large leaves, a panel with a three-masted ship on either side, between these four groups of two Dutchmen holding a fan or a flower(?). On the reverse of the sides peony sprays separated by two panels each with two Dutchmen and two with a three-masted ship. On the base a shou (long life) character in gold with an outline in iron-red. Dishes, bowls and plates with a decoration of Dutchmen and/or Dutch ships occur in many varieties and grades. They are still being made in Arita. They were mainly produced for the Japanese market as souvenirs or to satisfy the lively interest in the exotic West. Woodblock prints from Nagasaki and Yokohama also depicted the Dutch and their ships and factory for much the same reasons. This group is extremely difficult to date due to the lack of documented pieces. In general, the relatively carefully painted pieces are dated...