Bord met een voorstelling van De parasoldames
Besides pagodas and sages, women were a standard feature of the ‘Asian’ imagery of European designers. In 1734, the Dutch draughtsman and designer Cornelis Pronk (1691-1759) created four designs for the decoration of Chinese porcelain for the Dutch East India Company. Pronk never visited Asia. He based his designs on Chinese examples known to him, possibly in the plate on the right, combined with a touch of fantasy.