PAIR IMPORTANT CHINESE EXPORT ARMORIAL PORCELAIN HEXAGONAL CHARGERS.Yongzheng period, circa 1723. The center with the arms of Lord Charles Townshend, 3rd Viscount Townshend of Raynham Hall, Norfolk: "azure a chevron ermine between three escallops argent, impaling Harrison of Balls Park, Hertfordshire, Or on a cross azure five pheans of the field," flanked by stag and hound supporters, Baron's coronet, all above motto: "Haec generi incrementa fides," the cavetto with diaper and four cartouches, the borders with flowering branches and Baron's coronet, - Widest point: 13 1/2 diam. Estimate $4,000-6,000
See David S. Howard, "Chinese Armorial Porcelain", vol. 1, ill. p. 169, pl. A5 for a charger from this service:: "This is one of the earliest datable services with rose enamel...and the motto too is an early example. The coronet is painted in red and only the shading on the motto scroll is in rose."
PROVENANCE: This pair of chargers was part of a large service commissioned by Lady Audrey Townshend, a prominent court socialite and wife of Lord Charles Townshend, and only daughter and heir of Edward Harrison of Ball's Park in Hertfordshire. Their second son, Charles Townshend served King George III as Chancellor of the Exchequer and enacted the infamous Townshend Acts passed in 1767, taxing tea and other imports to the American colonies, sparking the Boston Tea Party. The chargers descended in the direct line of the Townshend family and remained at Raynham Hall, Norfolk, the family's ancestral estate, for more than two centuries. Lady Agnes Townshend Durham bequeathed the chargers to her daughter, Victoria Townshend Durham, who in 1957 presented them as a gift to her American cousin, R. Townsend Heard of Grasslands Farm, Middleburg, VA.
Perfect condition except very minor fritting on rims and gold rubbed on edges.
