coffee-cup BM-Franks.639

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1780-1790 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,

Dimensions:Height: 7 centimetres

Description:
‘Famille rose’ coffee cup with a Scottish coat of arms. This coffee cup with blue enamel band and gold-and-blue spearhead border at the rim is decorated with a coat of arms with four red roses separated by a diagonal red cross, with a crest in form of a naked figure holding a dagger in his right hand. The supporters on either side are two Highlanders (men from the Scottish Highlands) wearing green tartan kilts, jackets and the traditional fur-covered pouches called sporrans, and having their swords drawn. Above the arms is the motto ‘THIS I’LL DEFEND’, and below the place name ‘LOCH SLOY’.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The arms have been identified as belonging to the Scottish family of Macfarlane. ‘LOCH SLOY’ is the name of a lake in Strathclyde, Scotland. This service was probably made for Francis Macfarlane, head of the Macfarlane family in Britain, who had travelled widely in Europe andthe West Indies (Howard, 1974, p. 743). The design was copied from a book plate such as the one which is in the British Museum (BM Franks 19198).