Lot Essay
These figures have variously been described as Louis XIV and Mme de Maintenon (or Mme de Montespan), General Duff and his wife, and a Frisian couple. Both D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer and M. Beurdeley are in agreement, however, that the subject is Dutch rather than French. General Duff of English legend was the Dutch Governor-General Diederik Duiven (1676-1740) who held the post from 1729-1731. For a further discussion on Duff, see G.C. Williamson, op.cit., vol.I, pl.127, pp 145 and 146, where a similar dish is illustrated in colour; M. Beurdeley, op.cit., cat.192, p.194; D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, fig.37, p.62; Chine de Commande from the Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels, pp 200 and 201. and D.F. Lunsingh Scheurleer, op.cit., fig.203, for the example in the Rijksmuseum.