AN IMPORTANT AND LARGE FAMILLE ROSE ARMORIAL DISH FOR THE ENGLISH FAMILY OKEOVER Qianlong period, circa 1743 Ornately decorated and rich enamels in the rococo style, the central coat of arms surrounded by elaborate gilt scroll and shell framing, iron-red and white mantling, with two horses above a waterfall, all within a scalloped frame, the rim border having sprays of European flowers and four panels with monograms and crests. 12 1/2in (32cm) diam Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1743年 粉彩描金《歐克弗》爵徽盤 Published: Cohen & Cohen, The Elephant in the Room, Antwerp, 2019, pp. 44-45, no. 18 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《The Elephant in the Room》，安特衛普，2019年，頁44-45，圖錄編號18 This plate is from the most famous service of Chinese export armorials. The pattern was taken from a colored painting sent to China and which still survives. It was thought to have been executed by Arthur Devis Sr. (1711-87). The surviving painting reflects the precision of the Chinese enamellers in the ability to copy the original design. The arms are for Leake Okeover Esq. (1702- 65) of Okeover near Ashbourne, Derbyshire. (fig. 1) The service was ordered by Leake Okeover about 1738. (fig. 2) Two deliveries were made, one and 1740 of 70 plates and 30 dishes costing 99 pounds 11 shillings 10 pence and then in 1743 another group was delivered by Joseph Congreve, commander of the ship Prislowe, consisting of 50 plates and four large dishes. Only plates and large dishes are known today, and ours represents one of the few large examples. There are three recorded plates with the same design and monogram, but the arms of either James Tully, his sons Jerome or William Tullie, or an unrelated Timothy Tullie, superimposed on the design created for Okeover. For one example see Sargent 2012, no, 199, 369. Other related wares can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; The British Museum, London; The Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; the New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA. A smaller Leake Okeover plate (9in diam) from a private Florida collection was sold at Christie's New York, 20 January 2016, lot 179; and another is illustrated by Cohen & Cohen, Tyger Tyger!, Antwerp, 2016, pp. 110-111, no. 48. For further examples, see Howard, 1974, frontispiece and 398; Howard, 1994, no. 63, 80; Howard & Ayers, 1978, 413-5; Howard, 1997, 57, including illustration of the original design; Gordon, 1979, no. 13, 33; Sargent, 2012, no. 198, pp. 368-9, where additional examples are listed.