A CHINESE EXPORT ARMORIAL LARGE PLATE circa 1745-50

painted in the center with the arms of Theodorus van Reverhorst between flowering branches and encircled by eight identified smaller coats of arms, the cavetto with a gilt floral border and the rim with a gilt shell-and-foliate-scroll border.  Glaze crack on the base, small chips under the rim.

Pol Michiels, Brussels, August 30, 1984

1/4- inch chip at 11 o'clock and 3mm chip at 12 o'clock, 2mm chip at 9 o'clock, all under rim, minor wear to border at 7 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.

A plate from this well-known service, which was documented as an exceptional set as early as 1862 in Histoire de la Porcelaine by A. Jacquemart and E. Le Blant, is illustrated by Howard and Ayers, Vol. II, p. 400, no. 398, who discuss the Van Reverhorst family and this service, uniquely decorated with the coats of arms of the eight great-grandparents of the service's owner, whom they postulate was "almost certainly Theodorus van Reverhorst (1706-58), who served the Dutch East India Company for seventeen years as a member of the Court of Justice at Batavia, returned home in 1752 and died in 1758, being buried in de Grote Kerk at The Hague."  However, Dr. Jochem Kroes in "Unieke typen van Chinees wapenporselein van Nederlandse families: Serviezen met kwartierwapens van de families Van Reverhorst, Feith en Van Hardenbroek," De Nederlandsche Leeuw, Jaargang CXV, No. 11-12, December 1998, pp. 305-325, who illustrates on pp. 307-309, pls. 1-3, a plate, a teabowl, a covered sauceboat and a covered cup, explains that the service was more likely to have been ordered by Theodorus's younger brother, Adriaan van Reverhorst (1720-51), who was a Dutch East India Company merchant in Canton.

Subsequently, Kroes 2007, who illustrates a plate from this service, p. 71, pl. LXXXV and p. 316, cat. no. 233, to which he ascribes a date of circa 1745, and comments that this was "one of the largest services with the arms of Dutch families,...the original service would have had over 550 pieces," theorizes on p. 317 that the service might have been ordered by both brothers, and that when Adriaan died unmarried in 1751, his portion of the service was bequeathed to his brother Theodorus.  Kroes also illustrates on p. 649 the same plate with a chart of the various family coats of arms.

Other plates and dishes from this service are illustrated by Beurdeley, p. 190, cat. 174; De Noordhout, p. 59; Howard 1994, p. 92, no. 81; Le Corbeiller 1974, pp. 97 and 99, no. 40; and Lunsingh Scheurleer, pl. 274.  Another plate illustrated by Veiga, p. 294, pl. 270, was in the collection of Jorge Getulio Veiga, sold at Sotheby's in London on October 31, 1989, lot 122.   A pair of 9¼-inch plates was sold at Christie's in New York on January 24, 2007; and a 14 3/8-inch basin illustrated by Fuchs, p. 68, no. 30, was in the collection of Leo and Doris Hodroff, sold also in those rooms on January 23, 2008, lot 369.