Chinese Porcelain
Chine de commande
Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800
Page 1
Chine de comande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 objects are, if available, categorized in the following alphabetical order:
- Armorial
- Pseudo-Armorial
Armorial
Armorial porcelain forms a special group within Chine de commande. Made especially for Eastern markets, this porcelain was decorated with the coats of arms of European families, cities or towns. The first armorial porcelain was produced for the Portuguese market around 1540. The Dutch started ordering armorial porcelain in 1700 when they replaced the Portuguese as the main porcelain traders in Asia in circa 1630. These objects were originally manufactured in the style of blue-and-white Kraak porcelain; when enamel colours were developed later, these were also applied. This porcelain could be ordered to specification in China. Tableware with a family coat of arms was a treasured possession that enhanced the status of the owner. (Source: Keramiek Museum Princessehof, Leeuwarden)
Chine de commande – Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Page 1
Object 2012585
Tea bowl and saucer
China
1750-1755
Height of tea bowl 43 mm (1.69 inch), diameter of rim 74 mm (2.91 inch), diameter of footring 35 mm (1.38 inch), weight 46 grams (1.62 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 24 mm (0.94 inch), diameter of rim 123 mm (4.84 inch), diameter of footring 71 mm (2.80 inch), weight 65 grams (2.29 ounce (oz.))
Tea bowl and saucer on footrings, slightly everted rims. Decorated in encre de Chine (grisaille) and gold. The arms are an anchor above a book (bible?) The crest with to crossed keys with the letter 'O' at the dexter and 'E' at the sinister side. The mantling in traditional style comprises of scrolling leaves. The tea bowl is decorated en suite with an extra widespread flower spray.
It is yet unknown to whom these arms and the two initials 'O' and 'E' belong / refer. The crossed keys could point in the direction of the Dutch city of Leiden which carries two crossed keys in its city coat of arms.
Arms of the Leiden burgomaster Rippert van Groenendyck (c.1640) possibly an earlier carrier of the coat of arms. The book (bible?) might have been added by later ancestors. (Source: Rijksmuseum)
Arms of the city of Leiden, The Netherlands, similar to the crossed keys in the Armorial design. (Source: Rijksmuseum)
Condition tea bowl: Two shallow chips to the inner footring.
Condition saucer: Perfect.
Price: € 499 Currency Converter
Chine de commande – Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Dutch - Page 1
Object 2011172
Tea bowl
China
c.1765
Height 43 mm (1.69 inch), diameter of rim 74 mm (2.91 inch), diameter of footring 32 mm (1.26 inch), weight 43 grams (1.52 ounce (oz.))
Tea bowl on footring, slightly everted rim. Decorated in various overglaze enamels, iron-red, black and gold with a coat of arms surrounded by four large and four small flower sprays in European style. Round the inner rim a chain-pattern border. On the base an old collector's number '1018' handwritten in black ink.
The coat of arms show: on a gold background a red arched bend; the crest a gold coronet with above an eagle's claw upside down. The mantling comprises scrolling leaves in red and grisaille. These are the arms of "Van der Burch" from Delft and other major Dutch cities. The "Van der Burch" family is a very ancient one with its genealogy reaching back to the mid-14th century.
This tea bowl was part of a tea service that can be dated to the mid-1760s. At least seven people could have commissioned it, however the most likely is Frans Jansz. van der Burch (1718-1775). He was the city councillor of Delft from 1748 and he became director of the Dutch East India Company, (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, VOC) in 1765. This event in particular might have induced him to order both a dinner and tea service with his family arms. Kroes mentions that of this dinner service only an oval dinner platter is known and from the tea service only a tea caddy without cover is known. (Kroes 2007, p.363 & p.453)
In the collection of the Groninger Museum is a metal tobacco box made in Japan in the mid-18th century, with the same coat of arms of the Van der Burch family and an inscription: "FRANC(O) REYERSZ VANDER BURCH". In literature the word Franc(o) has been wrongly interpreted as "Sibrant", please see the following two pictures.
Both images reproduced from: Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the Dutch Market, Chinese Porcelain with Coats of Arms of Dutch Families, (J. Kroes, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2007), p.363, cat.no. 281b. (Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by the publisher or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved)
For an identically shaped, sized and decorated tea bowl and cover that was donated by me in 2012 to the collection of Oriental ceramics of the Groninger Museum, please see:
For an oval platter and a tea-caddy, with identically armorial design, please see:
For the metal tobacco box in the collection of the Groninger Museum made in Japan in the mid-18th century, with the same coat of arms of the Van der Burch family and an inscription: "FRANC(O) REYERSZ VANDER BURCH", please see:
Condition: Perfect.
Reference:
Kroes 2007, cat.no. 281a, cat.no. 281 & cat.no. 376
Price: € 399 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - British - Page 1
Objects 2010858 & 2012859
Teapot with cover and stand
China
c.1760
Provenance: Polly Latham, Boston, USA.
Teapot with cover: height (with cover) 132 mm (5.19 inch), height (without cover) 94 mm (3.70 inch), diameter handle to spout 195 mm (7.68 inch), diameter of mouthrim 64 mm (2.52 inch), diameter of footring 64 mm (2.52 inch), weight with cover 415 grams (14.64 ounce (oz.)), weight cover 72 grams (2.54 ounce (oz.))
Stand: height 23 mm (0.91 inch), dimensions 119 mm (4.69 inch) x 130 mm (5.12 inch), weight cover 109 grams (3.84 ounce (oz.))
Teapot of globular shape on footring, straight spout with a curved C-shaped handle. Domed cover and pointed knob. Polychrome decorated in yellow, rose, red, blue, green and white overglaze enamels, black / grisaille and gold with an the Arms of Crichton of Ruthven in Scotland, Argent a lion rampant azure armed and langued gules on a chief of the second three lozenges of the first; crest, a pillar argent; motto 'Stand sure'; impaling Freke, Sable two bars and in chief three mullets or, flanked by flower sprays. Round the rim a spearhead-pattern border. On the cover two flower sprays with a spearhead-pattern border round the rim. On the base an oval paper dealer label that reads: 'Polly Latham' with the handwritten number; 3762 in black ink.
Hexagonal teapot stand or saucer dish with spreading upright sides, a deeply scalloped rim and a flat unglazed base with adhering kiln sand. Used as teapot or milk jug stand. Polychrome decorated in yellow, rose, red, blue, green and white overglaze enamels, black / grisaille and gold with an the Arms of Crichton of Ruthven in Scotland, Argent a lion rampant azure armed and langued gules on a chief of the second three lozenges of the first; crest, a pillar argent; motto 'Stand sure'; impaling Freke, Sable two bars and in chief three mullets or, flanked by flower sprays. On the rim a spearhead-pattern border. On the base of the stand an oval paper dealer label that reads: 'Polly Latham'
The Crichtons of Ruthven are a cadet branch of the Crichtons of Crichton. There are two services with Crichton alone. It seems most probable that this branch of the family were connected with the East India Company; probably marrying a Freke of Melcombe in Dorset, or Hannington in Wiltshire. Patrick Crichton was first officer on the East Indiaman 'Earl of Elgin' at Canton in 1764. See chapter on the Earl of Elgin in Geoffrey Godden's book on Chinese export porcelain. This is also possibly for a daughter of Mr. S. Freke, Governor of Bengal from 1733 to 1738.
The Freke family, bearing these arms, are descended from Robert Freke of Shorton in Dorset - Teller of the Exchequer in the reigns of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth. (Howard 1974, p. 453, cat. P16)
There is a cup and saucer with identically armorial design (No.827+) in the British Museum and in April 1969 Sotheby's sold two plates and in 1970 a teapot, stand and teapoy with identically armorial design. (Howard 1974, p.453, cat. P16)
For an Illustration of a (tea) bowl from the Clive Rouse Collection with identical armorial design please see:
For an Illustration of a dish from the Phil. Cooke Collection with identical armorial design please see:
For an Illustration of a milk jug with the Crichton armorial design in encre de Chine please see:
For an Illustration of a dish with the Crichton armorial design in underglaze blue please see:
For an Illustration of a dish with the Erdeswick quarterly impaling Crichton armorial design in underglaze blue please see:
Condition teapot: A firing flaw to the inner footring.
Condition stand: Two popped bubbles of glaze, caused by the firing process, to the rim.
References:
Price: € 2,999 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Armorial - Page 1
Object 2012202
Teacup and saucer
China
c.1775-1780
Provenance: Suchow & Seigel, New York City, Fine Antiques est.1968.
Height of teacup 49 mm (1.93 inch), diameter of rim 88 mm (3.46 inch), diameter of footring 42 mm (1.65 inch), weight 72 grams (2.54 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 30 mm (1.18 inch), diameter of rim 140 mm (5.51 inch), diameter of footring 84 mm (3.31 inch), weight 107 grams (3.77 ounce (oz.))
Teacup and saucer on footrings, straight rims. Decorated in various overglaze enamels, iron-red, black and gold with two coats of arms accolée The shields are in a rococo style cartouche edged by scrollwork, flower festoons and shells above a gold coronet and surrounded by four flower sprays in European style. Round the rims a framework of deutsche blumen (German flowers) joined by fonds of bamboo. The teacup is decorated en suite. On the base of the saucer an oval paper dealers label that reads: Suchow & Seigel, New York City, Fine Antiques est.1968 and a crossed out old hand written collectors number / museum inventory number (201974d) in red. On the base of the teacup an oval paper dealers label that reads: Suchow & Seigel, New York City, Fine Antiques est.1968 and a crossed out old hand written collectors number / museum inventory number (201974-9L) in red.
Decorated with two coats of arms accolée. The dexter side is quarterly, 1. and 4. on a blue background a silver swan; 2. and 3. on a gold background three black cauldrons (two-one) on a gold background three cauldrons (two-one). The arms at the sinister side have two gold millrinds, in a quarter on a gold background a walking lion.
The dexster arms are those of Van de Leur, borne by an ancestor of the Krayenhoff van de Leur line, Anna Jacoba van de Leur (1747-1785), as shown on her tomb in Ceylon. She married in 1769 Cornelius Dionysius Krayenhoff (1744-1792) who was a senior merchant and director of Galle and Mature, Ceylon. The armorial quarters of Dick Arnold Krayenhoff van de Leur are those of Krayenhoff van de Leur - Loke, Krayenhoff van de Leur - Kolff, Loke - Muntz and Krayenhoff - Van de Leur.
However the sinister arms remain unidentified as none of those family arms resemble the millrinds and lion quarter which were, however, borne by at least six armigerous families, all from the province of North Brabant; Gommaerts or Gommers, Van der Hoeven (Heusden and Vrijhoeve, 18th century), Coenen, Nolleken, (Rover) van der Poorten and De Rode, the latter four in 's-Hertogenbosch during the 15th century.
The Van de Leur family is also from Brabant descending from Philippus van de Leur who was a wine merchant in Bergen op Zoom in the early 18th century. His son was appointed schout or bailiff of villages and small towns in western Brabant and Zeeland, such as Oude Tonge, Prinsenland and Willemstad. Philippus' son, Jacob van de Leur (born 1717), a bailiff and dike reeve of Willemstad (1749) was the father of Anna Jacoba who married into the Krayenhoff family. (Kroes 2007, p.523)
Kroes states that a (Chinese?) porcelain service with two coats of arms accolée was, in 1927, in the collection of Dirk Arnold Krayenhoff van de Leur (1855-1939) in the Dutch city Haarlem.
Only six services (1.3%) were decorated with bamboo borders for the Dutch market. The main design was a bamboo band with entwined flowers, fruits and leaves, in several cases with spearhead, small flowers and later line decoration. Most are polychrome enamels. Bamboo is the last style with predominant Chinese features, being fashionable in the 1750s. Some services were also made in the 1760s and again in the 1780s. (Kroes 2007, p.27)
Condition teacup: Perfect.
Condition saucer: Perfect with slight wear to the golden decoration.
Reference:
Price: € 749 Currency Converter
Pseudo-Armorial
Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. Chine de commande was expensive, made in limited amounts and was almost always ordered privately.
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2011365C
Saucer
China
c.1720-1740
Height 24 mm (0.94 inch), diameter of rim 140 mm (5.51 inch), diameter of footring 71 mm (2.80 inch), weight 143 grams (5.04 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring with straight rim with slightly flaring edge. Chinese Imari, decorated in underglaze blue, iron-red and gold with in the centre a roundel filled with a single flower spray on the sides and rim flowering peonies alternating with double headed eagles.
In 1565, the Philippine Islands were conquered by an expedition that included six Spanish Augustinian friars under the supervision of Father Andres de Urdaneta, who established several missions in the Archipelago. According to Augustinian sources, after the discovery of the Holy Child of Cebu (an image thought to be miraculous), King Philip II of Spain (1556-98), granted the privilege to the Augustinians of the Philippine Islands to make use of his ensign, the double headed eagle from the Hapsburg in their emblem. (Welsh 2003, p.18)
The double headed eagle is the emblem of the Spanish Catholic Order of St. Augustine and it is very likely that this saucer, as part of a chocolate beaker and cover set was ordered by the Augustinian Fathers.
An article in The Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippine, June 2007 on The Pacific route of Ceramic trade: the Commercial Flow of Oriental Ceramics between Asia and Latin America by Etsuko Miyata and Risuko Yajima, focusses on their findings of the study about Chinese ceramics traded through galleons via Manila to the New World (Mexico) in the 16th-19th centuries. The research was conduted in Zócalo area, Mexico City in 2006. The excavated pieces dated from the late Jiajing period (1522-1566) to the 18th century. Amongst the 18th century objects excavated was a sherd of an overglaze bowl (read beaker) with a double headed-eagle drawn on the exterior wall. Special orders with emblems by the Portuguese Kings, nobles, and religious orders are known from the 15th century, some of which can be seen among the Portuguese collection today. This emblem probably depicts that of Hapsburg (1510-1700) or the Augustinian order, though in any case, it dates back to the early 18th century at the latest. (The Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines, June 2007)
For other objects decorated with the double headed eagle emblem of the Spanish Catholic Order of St. Augustine, please see:
- Chinese export porcelain in North America, (J. McClure Mudge, Riverside Book Company, Inc., New York, 2000), p.47, cat.50 & 52.
- Imagens do Cristianismo na Porcelena da China / Christian Images in Chinese Porcelain (J. Welsh, T. Canepa, Jorge Welsh Books, London/Lisbon 2003), pp.18-19, cat. 1.
- SKD Online collection.
Cocoa was first brought to Europe by the Spaniards from Mexico in the 1st half of the 16th century. From Spain the cocoa beans were traded to Italy and The Netherlands, First used as a medicine, later at the end of the 17th century it was consumed as a pleasure drink. (Jörg & Van Campen 1997, p.116)
Condition: Two firing flaws and a frit to the rim.
References:
Jörg & Van Campen 1997, cat. 117
The Oriental Ceramic Society of the Philippines, June 2007
Price: € 599 Currency Converter
More pictures of object 2011365B, another identically, shaped, sized and decorated, sold, saucer >>
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2012187
Teacup and saucer
China
1765-1775
Provenance: Van der Ven & Van der Ven Antiquairs, 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands.
Height of teacup 39 mm (1.54 inch), diameter of rim 65 mm (2.56 inch), diameter of footring 31 mm (1.22 inch), weight 37 grams (1.31 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 26 mm (1.02 inch), diameter of rim 106 mm (4.17 inch), diameter of footring 61 mm (2.40 inch), weight 62 grams (2.19 ounce (oz.))
Teacup and saucer on footrings, straight rims. Polychrome decorated in iron-red, black and green overglaze enamels and gold. In the centre there are two monogrammed ovals linked above by a knotted ribbon with a tassel, surrounded by palms and garlands. In the dexter oval, gilt letters are painted in handwriting with the initials 'PR', the sinister oval has the initial's 'CVE'. Below the ovals, in the middle, an animal's head. On the sides four groups of flowering branches. Round the rim a border with leafy branches and flower heads. The reverse is undecorated. The teacup is decorated en suite. On the base of the saucer a rectangular silver paper dealers label with the printed text: 'VAN DER VEN & VAN DER VEN ANTIQUAIRS 'S-Hertogenbosch CHINEES PORSELEIN CH'IEN LUNG PERIODE 1736 - 1795'.
Much Chinese export porcelain made for the Dutch market has a pseudo-armorial character, the most notable and largest group being monogrammed porcelain. Monograms are initials, often finely painted in the shape of a mirror monogram or cipher. A mirror monogram is a design of a monogram where the letters are reversed to make mirror images to produce an ornamental form. The word cipher is more or less synonymous with mirror monogram the with the emphasis on encrypting text with a combination of symbolic letters in an entwined weaving of letters.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
Condition teacup: A hairline to the rim.
Condition saucer: Perfect.
Reference:
Price: € 399 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2012007
Saucer
China
1730-1750
Height 24 mm (0.95 inch), diameter of rim 133 mm (5.24 inch), diameter of footring 79 mm (3.11 inch), weight 72 grams (2.54 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring, straight rim. Decorated in 'encre de Chine', gold, iro-red and green and blue enamel with a central pseudo-Armorial monogram design within a wreath of leaves surmounted by a coronet, on the sides five groups of leafy scrolls. Round the rim a wave-pattern border. The reverse is undecorated.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
Condition: A popped bubble of glaze caused during the firing process and a fleabite to the rim, two Y-shaped hairlines to the base.
Reference:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2010918
Tea bowl and saucer
China
1740-1750
Height of tea bowl 45 mm (1.77 inch), diameter of rim 74 mm (2.91 inch), diameter of footring 35 mm (1.38 inch), weight 53 grams (1.87 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 21 mm (0.83 inch), diameter of rim 120 mm (4.72 inch), diameter of footring 72 mm (2.83 inch), weight 75 grams (2.65 ounce (oz.))
Tea bowl and saucer on footrings, the rims with small indentations. Decorated in underglaze blue, various overglaze enamels and gold with a central pseudo-armorial monogram design within a wreath of leaves tied with a ribbon and surmounted by a coronet held by two flying, partially clothed angels with trumpets. Round the rim a flower head with pendants-pattern border. The reverse is undecorated. The tea bowl is decorated en suite.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
Condition:
Tea bowl: Perfect.
Saucer: A short hairline to the rim.
Reference:
Price: € 399 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2012532
Tea bowl and saucer
China
1740-1750
Height of tea bowl 45 mm (1.77 inch), diameter of rim 75 mm (2.95 inch), diameter of footring 36 mm (1.42 inch), weight 67 grams (2.36 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 28 mm (1.10 inch), diameter of rim 121 mm (4.76 inch), diameter of footring 76 mm (2.99 inch), weight 83 grams (2.93 ounce (oz.))
Tea bowl and saucer on footrings, the bowl with handle. Decorated in encre de Chine, gold and a pink-gold wash with three monogrammed ovals surmounted by a coronet surrounded by European scrollwork with hanging flowers supported by two angels. In the dexter oval a cipher "J C V E" and a cipher "F V P " at the sinister side oval, underneath both ovals a third oval with the cipher "P V P". On the base of the tea bowl an old square paper label that reads: 'encre de Chine ca.1750 fl.750,- kop + sch' The tea bowl is decorated en suite.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. Chinese export porcelain decorated with three monogrammed ovals is rare. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
For an earlier sold, identically, shaped, sized and decorated tea bowl and saucer, please see:
Condition:
Tea bowl: Perfect.
Saucer: Some wear to the decoration round the inner rim and two fleabites and a chip to the rim.
Reference:
Price: Sold.
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2011364
Coffee cup
China
1750-1760
Height 63 mm (2.48 inch), diameter of rim 55 mm (2.17 inch), diameter of footring 25 mm (0.98 inch), weight 85 grams (3.00 ounce (oz.))
Coffee cup with handle on footring. Decorated in various overglaze enamels and gold with a marriage device of two ovals with cyphers, beneath a coronet. Round the rim a spearhead -pattern border.
Much Chinese export porcelain made for the Dutch market has a pseudo-armorial character, the most notable and largest group being monogrammed porcelain. Monograms are initials, often finely painted in the shape of a mirror monogram or cipher. A mirror monogram is a design of a monogram where the letters are reversed to make mirror images to produce an ornamental form. The word cipher is more or less synonymous with mirror monogram the with the emphasis on encrypting text with a combination of symbolic letters in an entwined weaving of letters.
Monograms and ciphers are mainly personal as opposed to coats of arms that beside by individuals can also be borne by whole families and communities. Pseudo-armorials are those emblems and signs which only resemble a coat of arm by using heraldic components such as a shield shape and/or banners, spears, flying angels etc. that surround the monogram or cipher. (Kroes 2007, p.56)
This coffee cup was undoubtedly part of a marriage coffee and tea service. It has a pseudo armorial, the crest more likely signifying marital bliss than of any heraldic significance. (Howard 1994, p.163. cat. 180)
Condition: A restored handle.
Reference:
Price: € 299 Currency Converter
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2011564
Teacup and saucer
China
1760-1770
Height of teacup 42 mm (1.65 inch), diameter of rim 76 mm (2.99 inch), diameter of footring 40 mm (1.58 inch), weight 52 grams (1.83 ounce (oz.))
Height of saucer 29 mm (1.14 inch), diameter of rim 120 mm (4.72 inch), diameter of footring 70 mm (2.76 inch), weight 91 grams (3.21 ounce (oz.))
Teacup and saucer on footrings, straight rims. Decorated in various famille rose enamels with gold. Both teacup and saucer with a monogrammed oval surmounted by a coronet surrounded by European scrollwork with hanging flowers. In the oval the cipher 'CMD'. On the sides four groups of flowering branches. It is, until now, unknown to who this cipher refers.
At a young age G.A.H. Buisman became the heir to the family firm. Like his father who built an extensive collection of Chine de commande porcelain, G.A.H. Buisman also developed an expert's eye for porcelain. According to his wishes his collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain depicting Dutch family armorials were to be sold at auction. It was sold as, 'European Noble and Private Collections, Including the G A.H. Buisman Jzn. Chinese Armorial Porcelain Collection' by Christie's Amsterdam, sale 2691, on 14.15 & 16 February 2006. In this sale lot 1103, consisted of four identically decorated famille rose 'monogrammed' cups and saucers. please see:
For more information on G.A.H. Buisman Jzn, please see:
Condition teacup: Perfect.
Condition saucer: Perfect.
Reference:
Price: € 499 Currency Converter
Dish
China
1770-1790
Height 28 mm (1.10 inch), diameter of rim 242 mm (9.53 inch), diameter of footring 136 mm (5.35 inch), weight 451 grams (15.91 ounce (oz.))
Dish on footring, flat rim with a scalloped edge. Polychrome decorated in various overglaze enamels and iron-red and gold. Initialled in the centre with flowering branches and a butterfly forming the initials 'W M J' on the sides a framework of deutsche blumen (German flowers) joined by fonds of bamboo. On the rim six cartouches filled with deutsche blumen (German flowers) on a white enamelled bianco sopra bianco diaper pattern ground. The reverse is undecorated
In the 18th century the Dutch, the British and, later on, the other European trading nations begin ordering armorial porcelains. Coats-of-arms were now ever increasingly decorated in overglaze colours in dedicated workshops stocked with wares to which a range of borders had been applied. These custom jobs cost many times more than the standard ware and were generally ordered by private traders who rented space on East India company ships. Company captains and officers were likewise inclined to garner a service with their own arms. Initialled porcelain was particularly popular in Scandinavia. (Emden 2015/1, p.108)
For a similarly decorated drinking service with the initials 'WB', please see:
Condition: Some wear to the decoration, a fleabite, two frits, two chips and a hairline to the rim.
References:
Price: Sold.
Chine de commande - Armorial / Pseudo-Armorial wares 1700-1800 - Pseudo-Armorial - Page 1
Object 2011010
Saucer
China
c.1790
Height 12 mm (0.47 inch), diameter of rim 82 mm (3.23 inch), diameter of footring 46 mm (1.81 inch), weight 111 grams (3.91 ounce (oz.))
Saucer on footring, straight rim. Polychrome decorated in overglaze blue enamel, iron-red, black and gold with a spade-shaped shield filled with a gold floral branch; the crest two doves looking at each other. It is surrounded by curtain-like mantling with tassels and knotted ribbon in blue and gold enamels encircled by a concentric wavy dark blue enamel line. Around the rim a floral scroll pattern border.
The form of the shield and the mantling points to a date in or after the 1790's.The spaded shield was particularly popular in the English market. This saucer was most likely part of a pseudo-armorial coffee and tea service with the doves referring to love. Several varieties of these pseudo-armorial services were made. The floral branch as an heraldic emblem was borne by some Dutch families, however, it was probably ordered by someone who was not armigerous, perhaps for a wife as an expression of love. (Kroes 2007, p.491)
At the end of the eighteenth, begin of the nineteenth-century armorials tended to shrink to a crest alone, possibly in favour of more democratic sentiments. A generic crest, nuptial birds, became a favourite even for distinguished citizens such as Bishop William White (1748-1836) of Philadelphia. (Mudge 2000, p.66)
At this time the porcelain came in quantity from Jingdezhen via Nanking and thence by sea, and was enamelled with standardized shields. These shields were completed, to special European order, with initials or a crest (or in this case the generic crest of two nuptial birds) to special order as part of a commissioned coffee or tea services, in workshops of Canton. This could be added quickly so that orders could return on the ships that brought them. Supercargoes would fulfil commissions for tea services from private clients and European and American China shops. (Howard 1994, p.153 & p.159)
For similarly decorated object, please see:
- Chinese export porcelain in North America, (J. McClure Mudge, Riverside Book Company, Inc., New York, 2000), page 222, object 368.
- Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the Dutch Market, Chinese Porcelain with Coats of Arms of Dutch Families, (J. Kroes, Waanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2007), p.491, cat. no. 411.
Condition: A firing flaw with two connected glaze hairlines both only visible on the base.
References:
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