A Rare Dated Chinese Export Porcelain Armorial Porcelain Dish Inscribed “Canton in China 24th of January 1791”

A Rare Dated Chinese Export Porcelain Armorial Dish, made in Jingdezhen in 1790 and painted in Canton, inscribed “Canton in China 24th of Jan.y 1791“. This rare dish is from a much sought after service, that gives a rare insight into how merchants ordered porcelain from China. Most of the service has this inscription, however it is interesting that a few pieces have the inscription “Canton in China 23rd of March 1791″. Perhaps the merchant ordering the decoration decided the quality of a few pieces was not good enough, or that maybe some pieces were broken at the enamelling workshop. The service was made for John Chadwick of Staffordshire, at a time when the potters of Staffordshire where in direct competition with the potters of China. Is it possible that this inscription, which is from the only known service for the British market dated like this, was a type of souvenir from the rivals in China? The time of year also throws up several questions. Most ships headed back to Britain at the end of January, so the 24th makes sense, but then why are a few pieces dated the 23rd of March. Did this ship leave in March, which would be very unusual or were these pieces collected on the next voyage to Canton. The Neo-Classical shield shaped armorial is suspended from a tied ribbon. The arms paternal arms of Chadwick quarterings of Malvesyn, Garden, Bagot and Heton. The service was made for John Chadwick of Ridware and Healey Hall. Pieces from this rare service are illustrated in : China for the West, Chinese Porcelain ; other Decorative Arts for Export Illustrated from the Mottahedeh Collection. For a plate from this service see : Made in China, Export Porcelain from the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur. See References for more details.

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