plate BM-Franks.1410

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1723-1735 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed, painted,

Dimensions:Diameter: 22.50 centimetres

Description:
Polychrome painted dish with a coat of arms of Brabant. This richly gilded and silvered plate shows two coats of arms in an elaborate gilt ‘rocaille’ surround, flanked by two hounds, surmounted by a helmet with silver and blue plumes, and with a coronet above and a lion crest. The well is painted with a golden diaper border with blue florets and floral panels, and the rim with a border of shell and arabesque motifs, hung with rose-pink banners, and interrupted in four places by armorial shields; those on either side and a lozenge-shaped shield at the top are repeating the arms from the centre. At the bottom is a different coat of arms with a helmet, surrounded by red plumes and with two birds above.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:The main coats of arms belong to the families of de la Bistrate of Anvers in Brabant, modern Belgium, and Proli of Milan and Brabant. The coat of arms at the bottom of the rim, however, is totally unconnected and belongs to Charles Boone, Governor of Bombay from 1716-20, for whom other services had been made in China. It was apparently added to this service by mistake (Howard, 1974, pp. 40-41). Correctly painted plates of this design without the additional arms are also known, for example in the Mottahedeh collection (Howard and Ayers, 1978, vol. II, pl. 459). The unusual colour scheme as well as the decoration of cavetto and rim appear to follow European models.