Description

Wucai, means five colour and was used to describe porcelain decorated with a five colour palette. The earliest example of Batavian style wucai decoration is a square Japanese Arita ware bowl, circa 1699. Export wares decorated in this manner were highly collected in the West during the first half of the 18th century. Objects included bowls, tea cups, tea pots, cups, plates, and vases. The wares are probably named after the city of Jakarta. The Dutch East India Company trading center in South East Asia was located there, Jakarta was also known as Batavia. This style of decoration was particularly popular with the Dutch.

As with delft pottery, which imitated Chinese blue and white porcelain, so these vases imitate Batavia ware and were made for a hungry market with limited supply.