Chinese Armorial Porcelain in the Ming and Qing Dynasty

Appreciative Comments on Armorial Porcelain

The earliest Chinese Armorial Porcelain with the heraldries of European royal family is ordered by Portuguese house-hold, made by Jingdezhen in the late Qing dynasty. This work is considered the earliest one, and now is in Lisbon. The work is decorated with the design of a lotus flower, and on the both sides are paintings of an armillary sphere, the heraldries of Portuguese King MenorⅠ.

This is also a work with paint of armillary sphere. There are four armillary spheres on the outer surface, and the word “AVE MARIAGRACIA PLENA” inner edge, which means “God blesses humans with happiness and good fortune.”

The most common European heraldry is the Lion pattern, accepted by the English royal family as their symbol.

The left one shown on the picture is the multicolored porcelain dish with English royal heraldry, ordered by the Netherlands in 1710. In the middle of the dish is the heraldry of English royal heraldry, below it is the incorrectly spelled name of the country “ENGELANDT.”

Among patterns used on Armorial Porcelains, lilies are the most common after lions, eagles and several other patterns. One of the most important reasons for the popularity of lily pattern is that it was the French royal heraldry. The right dish shown on the picture was made in 1725 and painted with French royal heraldry.