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Hi all,
Bit of a bulk post today - figured I'd put these in one post. I just wanted to share some pieces that I haven't had a chance to share yet. I hope you all enjoy looking or reading!
This plate was interesting for me for its aesthetic value and its historical value. It has a chain border in the cavetto, which generally dates to 1740-1780. On the chain border, Howard expresses in CAP2 that the design would've been an easy one for the painter that's suitable for all forms and sizes, which might be an indication that it was developed in Canton rather than in Jingdezhen. Many of the chain border services with floral rim designs are repeated among services during a short time frame, suggesting the existence of a savvy captain with a wide client list for private order commissions. On this one, three other services in CAP2 alone have the chain border and parrots flanking the left and right side.
However, this is the only service with the bianco-sopra-bianco floral sprays, which I really enjoyed! Not your run-of-the-mill chain border armorial! It was also made for Sir Richard Hotham, a wealthy and highly influential China trade merchant who owned over ten East Indiamen ships.
One such ship, the Royal Captain, struck an uncharted shoal about 75 kilometers off the coast of the Philippines, and sank, leaving over 100,000 pieces of Chinese porcelain on the seafloor about 350 meters deep. The shoal is now known as the Royal Captain Shoal, and the shipwreck was the subject of the 2000 documentary, The Treasure of the Royal Captain, which followed the recovery of almost 5% of its cargo. The remaining 95% still lies at the bottom of the sea. It was Frank Goddio who found it in 1999, who also found the Lena Shoal Junk. Apparently, the Royal Captain Shoal was difficult for many to navigate over since Goddio uncovered the 16th century Royal Captain Junk in 1985 just north of the actual Royal Captain shipwreck. That one carried mostly Zhangzhou wares and was likely engaged in the Southeast Asian trade between China and Borneo.
Despite the loss of the Royal Captain, Sir Richard Hotham was still highly influential in reforming the East India Company, which was close to bankruptcy. He testified in front of a committee hearing on the Company’s merchant shipping losses, explaining that the Company was spending much more than necessary on the China trade, due to corruption and/or ineptitude. With his recommendations to build larger ships for a smaller fleet of ships, the Company stood to save over £40,000 per year, which was enough to purchase almost one million pounds of black tea at Canton then.
As a result of these hearings, the East India Company Act of 1772 passed, overhauling the EIC’s leadership and facilitating parliamentary control over most of its affairs. Additionally, following this hearing and subsequent papers published by Hotham, the age of the large East Indiamen ships began, with 1200-1400 ton ships being built, dwarfing the previous 400-500 ton ships. True to his motto, Hotham certainly ‘had a care’ for the China trade, just as I do!
I liked this plate for its elaborate federal-style border! This border is frequently associated with the American market, but there are some illustrated in CAP2 for the British market, and one for the Portuguese market in another book, which I thought was interesting. This service was made for Lambert and Elizabeth Tree of Philadelphia. Lambert Tree was a prominent sailmaker and merchant. Lambert Tree apprenticed under John Dowers in 1786, whom he later partnered with under the firm, Dowers & Tree.
Lambert Tree’s father was Captain Lambert Tree, who is recorded as one of the founders of Philadelphia’s Captains of Ships Charitable Club which played an important role during the American Revolution (later renamed as the "Society for the Relief of Poor and Distressed Masters of Ships, their Widows and Children"). The club’s membership included prominent captains such as Nathaniel Falconer, John Green, and even the financier of the revolution himself, Samuel Mifflin. The Dowers & Tree firm would have undoubtedly leveraged upon contacts in this club and outfitted the ships of the numerous captains and merchants in its membership.
This plate was made for John Ross, and very few are in private collections, according to Polly's site. I found this one on eBay, misidentified as a Scottish family armorial! Mine's beat up, but it fit the collection at a cheap price because of that damage. Although he was a prominent shipping merchant, he seemed to have been involved mostly with the West Indies, Europe, and India (from Isla de France) from what I was able to find. His son was Charles Ross, who did operate in the China trade as a supercargo and later part-owner of China trade ships. A Chinese export plate was made for him, which I thought was really funny - It's plain on the front, except for the words "Charles Ross Remember the Chronometer" which may have been an inside joke between Charles and his gifter, or perhaps a serious tactile reminder to a forgetful Charles to regulate the chronometer, a timekeeping device used to determine longitude at sea.
I am very excited about this pair. It is discussed in the Dutch market armorial book by Kroes, and it expresses that only two were known as of publication in 2007. One is in the Rijksmuseum, but broken. Although it's unlikely that others haven't been found since 2007, it would mean that I've doubled this number with this pair!
It was made for Hendrik Carl Zurmegede, who began working in the Dutch trading post in Batavia as a bookkeeper for the VOC in 1738. After working his way up, he'd serve as trustee of the orphanage in Batavia, then vice-president of its board, and 10 years later as alderman (city council member) of Batavia. In contrast to some of the other services made for people born into wealth, I really appreciated his humble beginnings.
This one was made for a navy captain, Francois-Joseph de Rosily around 1740. He had two sons who rose to become Vice-Admirals of the navy under Napoleon on the same day, a unique achievement for even the most distinguished naval families!
This one is restored, but it might be published in the French market armorial book currently being worked on. I have to double-check!
The teapot and cup are c. 1760, with the chain border which I liked, and discussed above. The large charger is Persian-market and came with the Mughal emperor tray along with some other Persian-market pieces. The third is an update for my assembled pair of the grisaille flowers plate. The puce enameled tureen is tiny, only about 5" wide, which I think was a butter tub, but it also works for a soap dish! The last one is a run-of-the-mill gilt monogram teacup and saucer pair, which I liked only because the initials are JR, short for John Ryan, which my friends sometimes call me.
Thanks again for looking! I hope it wasn't too much - I know my posts tend to get lengthy.
John
Those are amazing! Congratulations, wonderful additions to your rapidly growing collection.
Thank you Sharon!! 😀 They were fun to look into for sure!
Very enjoyable and informative, thanks for showing us them. One of the plates reminds me of a saucer I have on my watch list on ebay. It is waiting for me to investigate further, but I haven't had time yet. I will post a picture if it is still available.
The similarity is only in the overall style, no initials on this. No information given, just the size of 14 cms. At a quick first glance, I was thinking it might be around 1815-1830-ish but I haven't had a chance to look closely at it yet, I just saved it for later.
John, I think you're gonna need to get a bigger house soon.
@bartholin I just moved into my new house and have to sell some of my collection because it’s a smaller house. I guess you have to keep size of collection in mind.
@lotusblack Very true. I'm definitely keeping that in mind now - I've put a hold on buying until I move, but luckily most of my pieces are plates, so they display nicely in two small, albeit crowded, curio cabinets. Luckily, my partner let me keep one for my Japanese, and one for my Chinese pieces. Honestly, it's the books that are taking up the most space.
Forgot to share this one - the plate I bought from Sothebys that had an outrageous shipping quote. It came in, but the experience left a sour taste in my mouth so it's now at the very bottom of my cabinet where I forgot about it while I was taking photos of everything else...
I didn't do research before buying, which is really unlike me, and bought it solely because I was reminded of pirates with the armorial that looked like a skull and crossbones. Our friend, Jeremy, kindly pointed out that the arms of Sir Isaac Newton are also two crossbones on a black ground. Turns out the person who ordered this one was a descendant of his. It depicts the arms of Newton, with Alleyne in pretence (which is the red and white shield in the front).
It came from the Speed Art Museum, which are the red accession numbers, which came from the Winfield Foundation, which are the numbers on the tape, from Helena Woolworth McCann (1878-1938).
@bartholin It is going to be a good story for you tell for years. 😀
That's a good way of looking at it 😊 I really have to be more positive moving forward
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