Large Dutch Delftware dish with an allegory of taste

The dish is part of a set, where each dish is painted with one of the five senses. The Art & History Museum in Brussels is the only museum that has a complete series where the description is written on the plate. The diameter of these dishes is 40 cm. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam owns a number of dishes of various sizes depicting the senses. Our dish is, to date, the largest of this genre with a diameter of not less than 53 cm. The fully painted border is richly decorated with a wide variety of flowers.

The dish has an impressive provenance. C.E. Jedelo was a master gold and silversmith at the Wijnhaven in Delft and also traded in antiques. Among other things, he was a contributor to the “Exhibition of Antiquities and Curiosities important for the Netherlands in the Province of South Holland”, held in Delft in 1863, at which four thousand pieces were exhibited. This dish was then owned by Viennese banker Newlinksi, and subsequently remained in the hands of various antique dealers for generations. Prior to 1940, The Hague antiquarian Alberge was the most important dealer in Chinese porcelain and Delftware.