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CHINESE ARMORIAL PORCELAIN FROM THE COLLECTION OF REV. JOHN G. B. ANDREW OBE

View the Chinese Armorial Porcelain Collection of Reverend John Andrew in the catalogue >

We are pleased to offer property from the Chinese Armorial Porcelain Collection assembled by the Rev. John G. B. Andrew. The collection covers the British trade from the early 18th through the early 19th centuries and includes examples of dinner and tea wares, cider jugs and punch bowls, and other forms that would embellish the table. The Rev. Andrew was particularly drawn to the color and exuberance of the armorials themselves and to the historical associations attached to them. Noting the quality of this ware, Homer Keyes, first editor of the magazine Antiques, raved “The Chinese makers appear to have lavished more intelligent and painstaking effort on their armorial services than upon any other of their foreign market porcelain.”

The high demand for this armorial porcelain in Britain in the 1700’s derived from the custom dating to the Normans, Plantagenets and Tudors, when in battle and in tournaments, royalty, nobility and titled magnates proudly sported heraldic devices on their tunics, shields and banners. In the more quiescent days of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, this tradition was redirected to household goods and particularly table wares where ceramics had supplanted pewter and silver. The nobility were emulated by the gentry and the growing merchant class, who created newly designed armorials to manifest the loftiness of their status.

Europeans had been importing porcelains from China since the 16th century, and continued to do so even after the introduction of porcelain manufacture at Meissen. It is estimated that over 60 million pieces of porcelain traveled to the west in the 18th century alone, often with the encouragement and assistance of the British East India Company. Special orders for armorial services were made through agents in Canton who received detailed designs of the client’s crest and motto. These orders were filled by the potteries of Jingdezhen, a slow process so that the turn-around time for delivery often took up to two years – no overnight guaranteed deliveries.

Many pieces in this sale came from Heirloom & Howard, Ltd. in the UK, and are referenced in David Howard’s definitive work, Chinese Armorial Porcelain.  When possible, we have referenced CAP numbers.

Of the earliest pieces at Stair, some highlights are:

  • a soup plate and dinner plate with arms of Hoadly, circa 1715, Lot 487
  • a two-handled sauce boat with arms of Radcliffe, circa 1724, which has iron red animal-form handles, Lot 509
  • a grisaille-decorated soup bowl with arms of Elwick, circa 1730, Lot 501.

Moving into the mid-century, there are on offer:

  • a finely painted platter with Cooke quartering Warren with Twysden in pretense, circa 1745, with a charming view of Fort St. George, Lot 523
  • a massive punch bowl with arms of Lascelles of Barbados & York, circa 1750; he was a director of the British East India Company, and the bowl has representations of barges with dragon banners, Lot 530
  • a cider jug with arms of Nesbitt, also circa 1750, Lot 519
  • and a large group of plates and tea bowls.

The later 18th century includes a number of blue Fitzhugh pieces, many of which are:

  • a massive basin with arms of MacLean, Lot 546
  • a water bottle with arms of MacLean, Lot 540
  • two meat dish strainers or later “bamboo” stands, Lot 547
  • and an unusual black Fitzhugh and saucer with arms of Cotton, Lot 550.

Of the few pieces represented of the American market, there is a spoon tray with a sepia eagle made for the Carroll family of Maryland, circa 1795.

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