A CHINESE EXPORT ARMORIAL PLATE circa 1730-35

painted in the center with a Dutch or Zeeland coat of arms, the cavetto with a turquoise-green trellis diaper border, and the rim with a pink cell diaper border interrupted by four blue enamel-edged panels of flowering prunus, peony or chrysanthemum branches.  The rim with a hair crack.

Pol Michiels, Brussels

1 inch hair crack to rim at 12 o'clock.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The Continental coat of arms on plates from this service has remained elusive.  A pair of plates from this service was in the Cecil H. Bullivant Collection, sold at Phillips in London on March 22, 1988, lot 370, and the catalogue entry suggested that the previously unidentified arms were those of Sire Thomas de Bannerbury.  The heraldry specialist Don Victor Franco de Baux has suggested that in spite of the differences in the tinctures, the arms might be those of the Braunsberg family of Amsterdam, for which, see Rietstap, Vol. I, p. 289.  Kroes, who illustrates a plate from the service, however, speculates that the arms may belong to a member of the Mellot family.  Another plate from this service was sold at Sotheby's in London on June 17, 1998, lot 411.