QIANLONG 1736 – 1795 London Decorated Chinese Export Porcelain
A Rare London Decorated Chinese Export Porcelain Plate c.1750-1760, Enamelled in London Between c.1755-1760. The Chinese Export Porcelain was Painted in London, Probably at the Studio of James Giles, with a the Arms of Sealy and a Large Spray of English Flowers, other Flowers and Insects.
SOLD
- Condition
- A large long crack from the rim. Minor rubbing to the enamels.
- Size
- Diameter : 23 cm (9 inches)
- Provenance
- The Collection of Dr. Bernard Watney. The Watney Collection of Fine English Porcelain Part III, Philips London. Wednesday 1st November 2000. Lot 811, one of a pair. The Helen Espir Collection of European Decorated Chinese Export Porcelain : "a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society and collector, with her husband. Having made a typical collection of Song and provincial Ming blue and white, they decided to concentrate on what used to be called `clobbered` porcelain. She is the author of the standard work on the subject, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain,2005, the first to examine the work of European decorators on Chinese porcelain throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, focusing on enamellers in Holland, Germany and England. She has learned Chinese." From Provenance ; Collectors, Dealers & Scholars : Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America (Roy Davids, Dominic Jellinek, Privately Printed, 2011. ISBN 978-0-9570148-0-0).
- Stock number
- 23649
- References
- Published : Chinese Armorial Porcelain Volume II (David Sanctuary Howard, Heirloom and Howard, 2003.ISBN 0-9544-389-0-6) page 18, illustrated on page 19. Published and Exhibited : James Giles, China and Glass Painter, 1718-1780. (Stephen Hanscombe, Stockspring Antiques. 2005) plate 75, the plate on the right. The Early James Giles and his Contemporary London Decorators (Stephen Hanscombe, Stockspring Antiques. 2008) page 104, plate 110, right hand side. Exhibited : Oriental Ceramic Society `East Meets West` at the British Museum.Exhibit number 69. Published : European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain 1700 - 1830 (Helen Espir, Jorge Welsh Books, 2005) page 230, plate 32. References : For a 38 cm dish of this armorial design see : Oriental Export Market Porcelain and its Influence on European Wares (Geoffrey A. Godden, Granada, 1979.ISBN 0246110570) page 346, colour plate 20.
Photos
Information
Qianlong Porcelain Decorated in London with the Arms of Sealy :
There are only a very few Chinese porcelain services with 18th century English armoria decoration known. There are pieces in existence that have Giles type decoration with the arms of the Sealy family, there are possibly a dozen pieces known, mostly plates (23 cm). There is a plate illustrated by Howard (Chinese Armorial Porcelain Volume II, David Sanctuary Howard, Heirloom and Howard, 2003.ISBN 0-9544-389-0-6) where the author notes that "Very close examination of pieces of the Sealy service (O4) shows the remains of Chinese gilding burned off - something known to have been done by Giles in furtherance of matching the porcelain for his service and using suitably shaped pieces which may have had some unwanted original gilding". Undecorated pieces were clearly available as well, most if not all were ordered for decoration in England I think. This is a theory , although I have no proof. It is logical that there would be little or no demand for `plain` Chinese porcelain as this would have appeared dull and would have been difficult to sell. This is born out by the very few pieces of plain Chinese porcelain that were left plain and not decorated in England. It is likely the Sealy service was decorated in the studio of James Giles between c.1755-1760. According to Helen Espir`s notes this type of painting was classified as Group `B` by Bernard Watney. Two plates were sold in the Watney Sale, The Watney Collection of Fine English Porcelain Part III, Wednesday 1st November 2000 lot 811.