A Rare and Important Chinese Export Blue and White Armorial Octagonal Charger, Qing Dynasty, Kangxi Period, Circa 1705 | 清康熙 約1705年 青花紋章圖八方大盤

Philips Edinburgh, after 1995 (by repute).

The present example is from the earliest known full service decorated with an English coat of arms. This group of works was commissioned for Rt. William Talbot (1658-1730), Bishop of Oxford and later of Durham. For the arms, see David Sanctuary Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, London, 1974, Vol. I, p. 164, A1. An identical octagonal charger is illustrated in Jorge Getulio Veiga, Chinese Export Porcelain in Private Brazilian Collections, London, 1989, pl. 13, p. 35, and later sold in these rooms, 31 October 1989, lot 123. Another example is also in the Franks Collection at the British Museum, London, acc. no. Franks.734.+.