plate BM-Franks.841.+

Period:Qing dynasty Production date:1745-1755 (circa)
Materials:porcelain
Technique:glazed
Subjects:heraldry lotus
Dimensions:Diameter: 24.50 centimetres Height: 3.20 centimetres

Description:
Two blue-and-white plates with French coats of arms. The two octagonal plates are very similarly painted with lotus-spray panels arranged in the shape of a lotus flower around an armorial device in the centre. One of the plates shows a single coat of arms flanked by two griffins under a coronet; the other shows the same coat of arms paired with another.
IMG


Comments:Harrison-Hall and Krahl 1994:Both plates were probably made for the family of the French Comte Davous of Paris, and were ordered either by the same man before and after his marriage, or by a father and son, or two brothers (Howard and Ayers, 1978, vol. II, p. 444). Although the two plates were probably not painted by the same hand, they are so similar in material and style, that a difference in date cannot be detected, and they may well have been ordered at the same time. A similar pair is inthe Mottahedeh collection (ibid., pl. 450).