A rare pair of famille rose armorial teabowls and saucers for the Dutch market
Circa 1740
Delicately enamelled on one side with the coat-of-arms of the Dutch family Mol and a VOC ship in full sail, facing an elaborate gilt monogram with the initials MOL, the initials repeated in an attractive central floral garland.
The saucers 12cm (4¾) diam.
Delicately enamelled on one side with the coat-of-arms of the Dutch family Mol and a VOC ship in full sail, facing an elaborate gilt monogram with the initials MOL, the initials repeated in an attractive central floral garland.
The saucers 12cm (4¾) diam.
Estimate:
£1,500 - 2,000
HK$ 18,000 - 23,000
US$ 2,300 - 3,000
HK$ 18,000 - 23,000
US$ 2,300 - 3,000
Footnotes
- These appear to represent two unpublished additions to this rather beautiful tea service, made supposedly for a VOC commander. According to Dr Jochem Kroes only one tea bowl and saucer are recorded for this service, see Dr J.Kroes, Chinese Armorial Porcelain for the Dutch Market, Zwolle, 2004, fig.270. It is important to note that the photograph appears to have been reversed by the printer and thus the arms are incorrectly reproduced, as visible above.
He suggests that the service was made for the VOC ship's captain Bastiaan Mol (born in Amsterdam 1697, died at the Cape of Good Hope in 1747). Mol served the VOC from 1710, and was appointed a captain after 1731. He was in Canton as master of the Eastindiaman Beekvliet in 1737 but the author suggests that this tea service, and another very rare one also made for the family, was made in about 1745, shortly before his death. Given the excellent quality of the porcelain and enamelling, there is certainly a case that this exceptionally rare tea service was commissioned in 1737.
Category: Asian Art / Chinese Works of Art
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