A FINE FAMILLE ROSE ARMORIAL LOBED OBLONG OCTAGONAL DISH FROM THE ROYAL PRUSSIAN COURT SERVICE Qianlong period, circa 1755 Potted to copy a European silver shape, and boldly enameled in colors at the center with the elaborate and complicated armorial bearings of King Frederick the Great of Prussia beneath the Imperial Prussian crest of a black eagle bearing the monogram 'FR' for 'Fredericus Rex' beneath a gilt crown, all within two narrow gilt formal border chain bands. 14 1/2in (37cm) wide Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1755年 粉彩描金俄國皇室《腓特烈二世》盾徽紋葵口橢圓盤 Published Cohen & Cohen, Baroque & Roll, Antwerp, 2015, pp. 142-143, no. 88 Cohen & Cohen, The Golden Gate Collection, Antwerp, 2018, pp. 198-199, no. 144 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Baroque & Roll》，安特衛普，2015年，頁142-143，圖版編號88 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《The Golden Gate Collection》，安特衛普，2018年，頁198-199，圖版編號144 This handsome dish from one of the most famous armorial dinner services ever created in Chinese export porcelain, containing many unusual shapes. Each piece bears the armorial bearings of Frederick the Great (1723-86), King of Prussia from 1740-86. King Frederick II of Prussia (nicknamed by an admiring public 'Frederick the Great', (German: 'Friedrich der Grosse') was born on 24 January 1712, in Berlin, the capital city of the Kingdom of Prussia (later Germany); he died on 17 August 1786 in Potsdam, near Berlin. Frederick was the eldest surviving son of Frederick William I, King of Prussia, and Sophia Dorothea of Hanover, daughter of King George I of Britain. As King of Prussia from 1740–86, he proved himself a brilliant military campaigner in the Protestant cause, often allied with Great Britain against the great Catholic nations of Western Europe (notably France and Spain). He became a military hero as much in London as in Berlin, his portrait even appearing on enameled salt glaze Staffordshire pottery mugs and transfer printed Worcester porcelain tankards during the 1750s. In a series of diplomatic stratagems and aggressive wars against Austria and other powers, he greatly enlarged Prussia's territories and made Prussia arguably the foremost military power in mid-18th century Europe. An enlightened absolute monarch, he favored the French language and all manner of European art, building himself an escapist French-style rococo palace, 'Sans Souci', near Berlin where he attracted art connoisseurs and the literary glitterati everywhere from Portugal to Russia. Other examples of Chines export table wares made for Frederick the Great are known but enameled only with his crest: see for example the remarkable Peabody Essex Museum five-piece crested cruet set (AE85717), illustrated by Sargent, 2012, no. 202, pp. 373-4. The border is known on only one other service, commissioned in China for the Famars family of Amsterdam; see Cohen & Cohen, 1999, cat. 19 for two plates from the Famars services. References: Hermitage Museum, a warming plate, illustrated by Arapova, Menshikova et al, 2003, cat. no. 38; Howard, 1994, no. 104, p. 110, for a tureen stand; Le Corbeiler, 1974, pp. 80-83, where several pieces are discussed; Beurdeley, 1962, cat. 195, p. 195, a dinner plate; Jansen, 1976, cat. 375, 157, a dinner plate; Williamson, 1970, pl. XXXVIII, a dinner plate; Jörg, 1989, a dinner plate; Maertens de Noordhout & Kozyreff, 2000, no. 3, a dinner plate; Scheurleer, 1973, no. 156, a splendid wine cooler and a tureen with cover; Suebsman, et al, 2015, no. 92, a plate.