KRAAK PORCELAIN   with  the   EGRET  mark.
                               WANLI    MING   :  1576 - 1626  
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The egret  ( or stork ) is the only mark to appear exclusively on  Wanli Kraak ware. This mark always appears on better than average pieces, with well defined moulded designs and carefull painting. The cobalt is consistently deep blue with silvery shades . These characteristics, along with the rarity of wares bearing the "egret" mark, indicate that this group of porcelain was made  only in one particular kiln . Only  45  egret-marked wares  are known, and even located .( f.e.:  3 are in the Topkapi Saray Museum, 1 in the Kobe City Museum  in Japan , 4 in the USA , 23  in the Netherlands , 3 in France  . By division into groups, there are 5 "klapmutsen" , 11 saucers  from 9 cm diam , and the remainder are dishes of approx. 20 cm diam , among which the ones with " border type VI , of which there exsists  17  .
In her book " Kraak Porcelain ",  Maura RINALDI ( 1996 )  has a chapter devoted entirely to " egret-marked "  porcelain :  p. 195 - p.208 , with pictures of most of them .
By our knowledge, there has been only 1 " egret-marked " dish in public auction  during the last decade:  "  Asian Art " , Amsterdam : 20/5/2008 , catal. n° 9 ( the design in the center was a reclining horse) .
Two others were included in : " Ming Blue & White ",  Marchant & Son ( UK),exhibition catal. 2004 , nrs. 42 - 43.

The " egret" bird is symbol of longevity .