This enameled dish with 'Arbor' design is decorated with a lady, servants and children by a pond, all dressed in Chinese costumes as perceived by the Europeans. Surrounding this scene are panels containing fruits, flowers and insects against a trellis ground and shell motifs. Cornelis Pronk’s designs, such as The Arbour, the fourth of five designs, were executed in predominantly pastel turquoise enamels. Dishes with Cornelis Pronk designs were used in dinner services in Europe. Due to the high costs of and huge amounts of time needed to reproducing these intricate designs, they were discontinued at around 1741. Pieces such as these were commissioned by the Dutch East India Company in the late 1730s.
