A fine and rare Japanese Arita porcelain charger decorated in the Dame au Parasol pattern after designs by Dutch artist Cornelius Pronk.  Versions of this pattern were done in both Japanese and Chinese export porcelain and it was always cause for a bit of speculation why the Dutch East India Company commissioned a Dutch artist to produce primarily Chinese-themed designs to be rendered by Asian decorators onto Asian porcelain to be sent back to the Netherlands?!  Either way, the wares proved too costly to produce and the project eventually abandoned, leaving a rare example of one of the few known European artists to have supplied original designs to the Chinese and Japanese porcelain makers.  This fine example measures 12 1/2″ in diameter and is in very good condition with the exception of a small rim chip to the reverse restored. Mid 18th century.