FOUR CHINESE EXPORT ARMORIAL BLUE AND WHITE SMALL WARES circa 1755 and 1765

comprising a chamfered rectangular salt cellar painted in the well with the arms of Greven accollée with Gronard(t)?, the rim with a cell diaper border and the flaring sides with a flowering peony vine on a 'fish-roe'-patterned band; and a coffee cup, a saucer and a hexafoil teapot stand painted with the arms of Crichton of Ruthven within a cell diaper band and a border of patterned ruyi heads, stylized blossoms and scroll devices issuing floral sprigs.  Together with a Chinese blue and white small saucer, circa 1690, painted with two Chinese ladies and an attendant near a pavilion, artemisia leaf mark within a double circle in underglaze-blue; a Chinese export blue and white chamfered rectangular tureen stand, circa 1775, painted with a version of the 'Willow' pattern within trellis diaper and 'Fitzhugh'-type borders; and a Chinese export blue and white arched rectangular tea canister and cover, circa 1790, painted with two small figures conversing before a pagoda in a river landscape, the shoulders and cover rim with trellis diaper and spearhead borders enhanced in England with gilt bands and vines beneath the gilt fruit-sprig knop.  Some small chips and restoration. 8 pieces.

(the salt cellar) Sold, Sotheby's, New York, January 26, 1984, lot 100 (104 pieces of this service)
(the salt cellar) Cohen & Pearce, London
(the Crichton saucer) Sold, Christie's, London, July 7, 1980, lot 160 (182 pieces of this service)

Salt ok; saucer with senses with big chip restored, 3 prong starcrack on base; teapot stand with minute frits to rim; cup and saucer with frits to handle, frit to rim, frits to rim of saucer; teacaddy and cover with big chip to neck restored, 2 chips under rim of cover; tureen stand with frits.
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 coats of arms on the salt cellar, lacking their tinctures, are difficult to determine definitively, but it has been suggested by Kroes, p. 192, cat. no. 107, who illustrates a plate from this service, that it probably was ordered by "Casparus Greven (d. 1776)," who spent most of his life as a junior merchant in the Dutch East Indies, "and Anna Jacoba Lea Gronard(t)?, who were married in Batavia between 1750 and 1758."  A dish from this service is illustrated by Lunsingh Scheurleer, pl. 262.

Octagonal plates from the Crichton service are illustrated by Howard 2000, p. 418, no, R2; and Veiga, p. 49, pl. 23.

For a discussion of gilding added in London around 1775-95 on Chinese export blue and white tea wares, see Helen Espir, European Decoration on Oriental Porcelain 1700-1830 (London, 2005), pp. 240-141, pl. 42, who illustrates three coffee cups with this type of embellishment.