A MASSIVE GUANGZHOU (CANTON) FAMILLE ROSE ARMORIAL BOWL COMMEMORATING THE BATTLE OF THE SPURS Jiaqing/Daoguang period, circa 1810-30 The imposing massive brightly decorated bowl, painted in the so called 'mandarin' palette, the exterior with two large shaped rectangular cartouches, one painted with a presentation scene with a warrior and his entourage before seated nobles and officials in a courtyard setting, the other with another warrior with chest bared and sword drawn performing before seated ladies and officials, both cartouches with ogival borders of turquoise floral scrolls on a gilt ground, smaller cartouches divide these and are painted with two crests of a horse and a bird surrounded by the motto munus et monumentum victoria Henry VIII Spurs 1513 written in reserve on a gilt-ground belt-like sash, the cartouches are set against a plain ground painted with birds, butterflies and flowers and bordered at the rim by a wide band with a continuous scene of figures in bucolic settings, the center of the interior painted with gentlemen at a table viewing a painting and at other scholarly tasks surrounded by groups of elegant women in pavilion garden setting, the well of the bowl superbly painted with a most unusual continuous scene within a very wide band, depicting various figural group settings, one with a meditating seated monk and acolytes, dancing figures in a courtly setting, further monks and warriors on cloud supports, sword-wielding youthful figures in a pavilion setting with a musician and elegant ladies nearby, the complete scene takes place before the water's edge below in which various characters, in a procession around the vessel, appear from within shells, clams, riding tortoises, fish, shrimp and tree vessels, all clutching swords and spears, above this band is a border of birds, flowers, fruit, lotus rhizomes and cicada on a dense gilt ground at the rim. 21in (53.5cm) diam Footnotes: 嘉慶/道光時期 約1810-30年 為英國市場製大件廣彩盾徽金馬刺戰役紀念碗 Published: Cohen & Cohen, Baroque & Roll, Antwerp, 2015, pp. 150-151, no. 92 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Baroque & Roll》，安特衛普，2015年，頁150-151，圖版編號92 The two crests are for the family of Clerke and the motto suggests that this very unusual bowl was made to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Spurs in 1513 in which Sir John Clerke had captured the commander of one half of the French Army, Louis d'Orleans, Duke of Longueville. As a reward for this Henry VIII awarded him an augmentation to the Clerke arms, an extra 'canton' with a ram and fleurs-de-lys, which appears on a Chinese armorial service made in 1730. A descendant of Sir John was made a Baronet, of Hitcham, in 1660 and this bowl and a porcelain service were probably ordered by Sir William Clerke, 8th Bt. Sir William (1751-1818) was the younger brother of Sir Francis, 7th Bt, (aide-de-campe of General Burgoyne), who died at Saratoga in the American Colonial Rebellion. William was a Fellow of All Souls, Oxford, and Rector of Bury in Lancashire with a great interest in social health and an investor in agricultural schemes. He was robbed by his partners and died imprisoned for debt in the Fleet Prison, 1818. He married Byzantia Cartwright and his son, Sir William, 9th Bt, fought at the Battle of Waterloo. The Battle of Spurs took place on 16 August 1513 between the forces of Henry VIII allied with the Imperial forces defending the Pope against the French. The battle was a resounding defeat for the French and earned its name from the speed with which the French cavalry fled the battlefield. References: Howard, 1974, p. 785, a meat dish from the service, with birds and insects and the same crests and motto - & p. 396, a service circa 1730 with the full coat of arms of Clerke including the augmentation.