Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1750-1755 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,
Subjects:heraldry
Dimensions:Diameter: 23.20 centimetres Height: 2.40 centimetres
Description:
‘Famille rose’ plate with the royal arms of Prussia. The piece is painted with a highly complicated coat of arms, which consists of forty shields, surmounted by a helmet and plumes and a royal crown, adorned with a large chain with a pendant cross. It is flanked by two supporters in form of ‘wild men’ with long beards and clad only in leaves, holding tall standards with black and red eagles, respectively, and standing on a pedestal with the German motto ‘GOTT MIT UNS’ (‘god with us’). The whole is enveloped in an ermine-lined purple mantle which forms a crowned canopy with an eagle emblem on top with long trailing tassels. Another eagle appears on the rim of the dish, interrupting a golden rim border.
IMG
![图片[1]-plate BM-Franks.606-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Qin dynasty/Ceramics/mid_00358608_001.jpg)
![图片[2]-plate BM-Franks.606-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/Qin dynasty/Ceramics/mid_00299705_001.jpg)
Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The elaborate arms are the Prussian Royal arms of Frederick II, the Great (r. 1740-86), their forty shields representing historical connections of the royal house. The large chain is that of the Order of the Black Eagle, adorned with a Maltese Cross. This plate and a serving dish (BM Franks. 738+) belong to a large service of which many items in various shapes are preserved. It is believed to have been ordered by the Prussian Asiatic Company as a gift for Frederick II, King of Prussia. He had founded the Company, which was based in the German North Sea port of Emden, in 1750, but it lasted only until 1757. In 1755 one of the four ships sailing for the Company, the Prinz von Preussen, ran aground shortly before her arrival home. It is believed that this ship carried this service, and since the porcelain was damaged in the accident, it could not be presented to the King, but the rescued pieces were repaired and sold on the market instead. The oval serving dish in the British Museum has an old breakage and repair. To hide the damage, a theatrical curtain in matching red pigment with gilt details has been painted on cold (and has partly flaked off). It is tempting to speculate that this overpainting may have been done in Germany at the time of its recovery from the sea, in order to make the dish saleable.About 200 pieces of this service were recorded before the War; 153 pieces were collected in the Hohenzollernmuseum alone, in the late 19th century (Berlin, 1973, pp. 149-50). A sweet-meat set is in Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin (ibid., no. C 11); a salt is in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (mentioned ibid., p. 149); a tureen and an ice-pail or jardiniere are in Huis Doom, Doom, Netherlands (Lunsingh Scheurleer, 1966, pl. 150); and another tureen, further dinner and soup plates and a punch bowl are recorded (Sotheby’s Monaco, 22nd June 1987, lot 1693).
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,
Subjects:heraldry
Dimensions:Diameter: 23.20 centimetres Height: 2.40 centimetres
Description:
‘Famille rose’ plate with the royal arms of Prussia. The piece is painted with a highly complicated coat of arms, which consists of forty shields, surmounted by a helmet and plumes and a royal crown, adorned with a large chain with a pendant cross. It is flanked by two supporters in form of ‘wild men’ with long beards and clad only in leaves, holding tall standards with black and red eagles, respectively, and standing on a pedestal with the German motto ‘GOTT MIT UNS’ (‘god with us’). The whole is enveloped in an ermine-lined purple mantle which forms a crowned canopy with an eagle emblem on top with long trailing tassels. Another eagle appears on the rim of the dish, interrupting a golden rim border.
IMG
Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The elaborate arms are the Prussian Royal arms of Frederick II, the Great (r. 1740-86), their forty shields representing historical connections of the royal house. The large chain is that of the Order of the Black Eagle, adorned with a Maltese Cross. This plate and a serving dish (BM Franks. 738+) belong to a large service of which many items in various shapes are preserved. It is believed to have been ordered by the Prussian Asiatic Company as a gift for Frederick II, King of Prussia. He had founded the Company, which was based in the German North Sea port of Emden, in 1750, but it lasted only until 1757. In 1755 one of the four ships sailing for the Company, the Prinz von Preussen, ran aground shortly before her arrival home. It is believed that this ship carried this service, and since the porcelain was damaged in the accident, it could not be presented to the King, but the rescued pieces were repaired and sold on the market instead. The oval serving dish in the British Museum has an old breakage and repair. To hide the damage, a theatrical curtain in matching red pigment with gilt details has been painted on cold (and has partly flaked off). It is tempting to speculate that this overpainting may have been done in Germany at the time of its recovery from the sea, in order to make the dish saleable.About 200 pieces of this service were recorded before the War; 153 pieces were collected in the Hohenzollernmuseum alone, in the late 19th century (Berlin, 1973, pp. 149-50). A sweet-meat set is in Schloss Charlottenburg, Berlin (ibid., no. C 11); a salt is in the Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin (mentioned ibid., p. 149); a tureen and an ice-pail or jardiniere are in Huis Doom, Doom, Netherlands (Lunsingh Scheurleer, 1966, pl. 150); and another tureen, further dinner and soup plates and a punch bowl are recorded (Sotheby’s Monaco, 22nd June 1987, lot 1693).
© Copyright
The copyright of the article belongs to the author, please keep the original link for reprinting.
THE END
![[Qing Dynasty] British female painter—Elizabeth Keith, using woodblock prints to record China from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China—1915-China Archive](https://chinaarchive.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/image-191x300.png)
