A RARE MASSIVE FAMILLE ROSE ENGLISH ARMORIAL EWER AND COVER Qianlong period, circa 1765 Boldly enameled opposite the handle beneath the spout of the broad pear-shaped body with a large coat-of-arms and crest, under a band of gilt spearheads at the rim, the sides and domed cover also unusually decorated with the crest repeated. 15 in (38cm) high Footnotes: 乾隆時期 約1765年 大件粉彩描金英國理查森家族盾徽紋帶蓋執壺 Published Cohen & Cohen, Hit & Myth, Antwerp, 2014-B, pp. 125-127, no. 71 出版： 倫敦Cohen & Cohen古董行，《Hit & Myth》，安特衛普，2014年-B，頁125-127，圖版編號71 The arms are those of Richardson of Rotherhithe (London), granted to William Richardson in 1765 and gazetted as: Or three palettes gules, on a chief embattled vert, as many lions' heads erased of the first; the crest as: out of a mural coronet or, a demi lion rampant gules holding between its paws a guidon argent, charged with a slip of oak proper, fructed of the first, the staff and tassels of the last. In pretence (i.e., representing the wife's family) the arms are: Argent on a chevron sable a mullet of the field, thereby identifying the family into which William supposedly married as Mixfine of Cambridgeshire. (However, if the mullet is 'for difference' then it could be representing a number of families, and David Howard has suggested it might be Trelawney. The family of Archdeacon of Cornwall also has just: Argent a chevron sable; while Alfrey of Gulledge, East Grinstead, Sussex has: Argent on a chevron sable a fleur-de-lys of the field, which is very similar). It remains frustrating that no corresponding marriage has been found for any of these possible spouses for William, to precisely define the original recipients of this handsome marriage service. The 'in pretence' coat suggests a marriage with an heiress. The 'Gentleman's Magazine' Vol. 36 (1766) has a marriage announcement for William Richardson of Rotherhithe to a Miss Coulton, also of Rotherhithe, but there is no corresponding coat-of-arms of Coulton. Burke has Colton (sic): Sable, a saltire engrailed between four crosses crosslet or. William Richardson was the son and heir of John Richardson of Rotherhithe and Newdigate. William was a timber merchant, dealer and 'chapman' closely associated with ship building, so he would have had connections to the East India Company trade, and a desire and opportunity to acquire a Chinese dinner service. By 1772 he was declared bankrupt, and his estate at Milland, Sussex had to be sold to pay creditors. The decoration on this service is quite simple but Howard 1974, notes that on the plates the four crests around the rim all face the same way which he says is unique. References: Howard, 1974, p. 481, a plate from this service; William Cave (writing under the name Sylvanus Urban), The Gentleman's Magazine, Vol. 36, 1766; Tudor Craig, 1925, p. 77, a pitcher with the arms of Parker, and p. 73, a pair of pitchers and covers with the arms of Mawbey impaling Pratt.