Chinese Export Armorial "Marriage" Design Saucer
The two families Monograms are held together in the center by a beautiful purple ribbon.
"Porcelain with special designs and special coat of arms actually started to occur already during the late Ming period, ordered already by the Portuguese. During the Qing dynasty, Kangxi period (1662-1722) more services are known, however it was not until the British entered the trade in all sincerity, that the commissioning of armorial porcelain with family coat of arms became substantial with something like 3,000 known armorial services as compare to the more modest around 300 known Swedish armorial services.
During the 18th century an important design source to the Chinese were the special designs made for wealthy western families. It is more often the rule, rather than the exception that the border designs from the special designs porcelain simultaneously appears on the bulk wares made for the trade.
But, thanks to this general practice most Chinese Export porcelain of the 18th century could be dated with a high degree of accuracy within a few years of it date of production by comparison with the border designs of dated armorial porcelain.
Over the century the decorations develops from a very cluttered bombastic, covering it all decoration filling up the central panel, to much more sophisticated decoration where the coat of arms eventually shrinks and moves up onto the rim. By the end of the 18th century and into the 19th century, it became the common practice to only used small sophisticated initials, or to have the family coat-of-arms integrated into a standard pattern instead." source Gotheborg.com
Measurements:
1.5 x 5.5 inches (4 x 14 cm)
