A rare Chinese export armorial 'Ker-Martin' dish, Qing dynasty, Qianlong period, circa 1790
清乾隆 約1790年 外銷粉彩紋章圖盤

The octagonal dish painted to the centre with a seated figure of Hope gazing out to sea, beside her sits an anchor and the arms of Ker with Martin in pretence, enclosed within an undulating border of gilt-painted tassels, pendents and anchors, the rim with a quartet of cartouches enclosing figural scenes representative of the four corners of the globe, punctuated by puce-ground panels decorated with twin-handled vases

(Quantity:1)

Dimensions: 24cm diameter

Santos Collection

來源：

桑托斯收藏

The Ker-Martin service was created for the English market in the late 18th century, and is considered one of the most elaborately decorated services made during this time. It is possible that Ellis Martin and Elizabeth Kerr commissioned this service for their daughter Jane, who married her first cousin William Kerr circa 1790.

The service depicts Hope in the centre with a shield decorated with the aforementioned arms, encircled by four panels painted with scenes that represent the four corners of the globe: Asia (a seated figure dressed in Chinese-inspired robes with a camel, pyramid and pagoda in a desert), Africa (a man sat beside a crocodile and an elephant), America (a figure in Native American-style clothing as a lion prowls nearby), and Europe (a seated lady holding an olive branch with ships in the background).

See an identical dish sold at Christie's New York, 24 Jan 2012, lot 30 [link]; and a serving platter sold at Sotheby's New York, 24 January 2022, lot 1767 [link].

This present lot is illustrated in A. Varela Santos, Qing Export Porcelain, by A. Varela Santos, 2015/2016, cat. 120.

For further literature and similar examples, please refer to: D.S. Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, p. 694, V1; Sir A. Tudor-Graig, Armorial Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, London 1925, p. 41 for a salad bowl, two chestnut baskets and a dish: R. Krahl and J. Harrison, Ancient Chinese Trade Porcelain from the British Museum, London, Taipei 1994, pp. 252/253, cat. 112 for a reticulated plate; F. & N. Hervouët and Y. Brunneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes a Décor Occidental, p. 328, cat. 14.10 for a similar plate; E. Gordon, Collecting Chinese Export Porcelain, 1978, p. 38, cat. 21 for a bowl with similar decoration; Los Angeles County Museum, Bulletin of the Art Division, Vol. 7, No. 1, Winter 1955, p. 34, fig. 37 for a dish with the same decoration; Sir A. Tudor-Graig, Armorial Porcelain of the Eighteenth Century, London 1925, p. 40 for two round baskets with covers, a oval salad bowl and a octagonal meat plate; D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, by D.S. Howard, Minneapolis 1994, p. 101, cat. 95 for a similar plate; Hu Zianzhong and Ji Wei, China and Sweden: Treasured Memories, 2005 Palace Museum Beijing exhibition catalogue, p. 208, cat. 90 for an identical plate; A.E. Lange, Chinese Export Art at Historic Deerfield, Deerfield MA 2005, p.219, cat. 84 for a similar but smaller plate.

Ellis Martin和Elisabeth Kerr之所以訂製此套餐具，很有可能是要贈給他們的女兒Jane，Jane在約 1790年嫁給了她的表兄William Kerr。

這個帶有獨特中國外銷瓷紋飾的盤子非常珍稀。盤中央的圖案為Hope女神靠在帶有Ker (或Carr) 家族族徽的盾牌上，Ker族徽上方繪有Martin家族族徽。盤沿四個開光處繪有四個著名的大洲：槍支、貿易、聚寶盆及持有和平自由標誌的女性形象代表著歐洲；一群正在交易的本地人，一隻大象及一隻鱷魚代表著歐洲；一位印第安人，一隻野牛及煙草葉代表著美洲；最後一座寶塔，一座金字塔，一隻駱駝及一位衣著光鮮的東方男士代表著亞洲。

插圖：《清代外銷瓷》， 阿. 瓦瑞拉. 桑托斯， 2015/2016，目錄 120。

參考文獻：

《中國徽記瓷器》，作者D.S. Howard, 參見第1卷，第694頁；

《18世紀紋章瓷器》，作者Sir A. Tudor-Graig，倫敦1925年出版，參見第41頁一沙拉碗，兩隻裝栗子的 籃及一隻圓盤；

《倫敦大英博物館藏中國古貿易瓷器》，作者R. Krahl及J. Harrison, 台北1994年出版，參見第252 、253頁一近器。

《倫敦大英博物館藏古代中國貿易瓷》，作者R. Krahl及J. Harrison，1994年台北出版，參見252-253頁編號112一件鏤雕盤子；

《印度公司瓷器里的西式裝飾》，作者F.和N. Hervouët及Y. Brunneau，參見第328頁編號 14.10一相似盤子；

《中國外銷瓷收藏》，作者E. Gordon，1978年出版，參見第38頁編號21繪相似圖案的一隻盌；

《洛杉磯博物館藝術部報告》，卷7，第1章，1955年冬出版，參見第34頁圖37一件帶相同式樣的小碟；

《十八世紀徽章瓷》，作者A. Tudor-Graig爵士，1925年倫敦出版，參見第40頁兩件圓形帶蓋籃子， 一件橢圓沙拉碗和一件八邊形裝肉用盤；

《私人貿易者的選擇》，作者D.S. Howard，1994年明尼阿波利斯出版，參見第101頁編號95之近器；

《瑞典藏中國陶瓷》，2005年北京故宮博物院展覽目錄，主編胡建中，紀煒，參見第208頁編號90一件完全相同的盤子。