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Lot Essay
The couple depicted on these plates is often referred to as Governor Duff and his wife, which is suggested to be the name the Chinese gave Diederick Duiver (1676-1740, Governor of the Dutch East India Company from 1729-1731), as they were unable to pronounce his name correctly. The same couple has also been described as Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan or simply a Frisian couple. Both D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer and M. Beurdely are in agreement, however, that the subject is Dutch rather than French. No print source has so far been identified to confirm either theory.
For a further discussion on Duff, see D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinese Export Porcelain, London, 1974, p. 137 and fig. 203 for a similar example in the Rijsmuseum. For a plate with a different border and details in underglaze blue, see D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, 1994, p. 62, pl 37. Both versions of this plate and a lacquer commode are illustrated in Hervout & Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes Décor Occidental, pp. 152-153.
For a further discussion on Duff, see D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, Chinese Export Porcelain, London, 1974, p. 137 and fig. 203 for a similar example in the Rijsmuseum. For a plate with a different border and details in underglaze blue, see D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, 1994, p. 62, pl 37. Both versions of this plate and a lacquer commode are illustrated in Hervout & Bruneau, La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes Décor Occidental, pp. 152-153.