An Extremely Rare Chinese Export Famille-Rose 'Foreigner's Procession' and Armorial Punch Bowl, Qing Dynasty, Qianlong Period | 清乾隆 粉彩外胡人出行内紋章圖大盌

The exterior scene depicting a central foreigner on horseback surrounded by Chinese attendants is unusual. While foreigners are often seen in Chinese ceramics, often depicted are procession scenes or tribute bearing scenes known as Bamanjinbao (八蠻進寳), the scene decorated on the present example is different. It depicts a hunting party with a central foreigner surrounded by attendants, which may have taken inspiration from the 'hunting subjects' punch bowls produce contemporaneously, but was instead of directly copying a Western print, was perhaps in turn inspired by these other examples and was an original Chinese composition.

The armorial on the present example is apparently unpublished. According to Chinese export armorial scholar Angela Howard, the arms illustrated are of a member of the Steward family, and she has theorized that given the quarterings relate to ancestral lines, and that the third quarter depicts a 'triskelion' representing the lordship of the Isle of Man, which originally belonged to the Dukes of Albany, it is possible that the present example relates to the Stewarts of Grandtully in Perthshire. However, further research is needed in order to discern the exact individual who would have borne these arms.

Please note: The present lot will be included in the forth coming Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Volume III, by Heirloom & Howard. We thank Angela Howard for her contributions to this catalogue entry.