QIANLONG PERIOD, CIRCA 1755

The arms painted on this service have been historically attributed to the Snoeck family of Amsterdam, although Jochem Kroes has argued that they belongs instead to Elias Guillot (1695-1743), who served Governor of Coromandel from 1733-1737 and may have ordered his service after settling in Batavia, Indonesia following his governorship. The distinctive rocaillerie border design to the present dish is so far known on only two other groups: the famous Dutch-market blue and white 'tea production series' and a Qianlong-era group painted at the centers with cockerel scenes. For a discussion of the Snoeck family as well as of the rocaillerie border and its design origins in Rouen faience, see C. Le Corbeiller, China Trade Porcelain: Patterns of Exchange, New York, 1974, pp. 102-103, no. 42. For a discussion of Elias Guillot, see J. Kroes, Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the Dutch Market, Zwolle, 2007, p. 324, no. 242.