LATE QIANLONG

The decoration on these dishes is traditionally called 'night and day', and the design has been thought to be for sample purposes, although neither of the two designs is known to exist alone. It is very likely that this service can be dated to circa 1785, since the exact design has been used on an armorial service, which was made for Dom Joaquim Xavier Botelho de Lima (1717-1800) who became Archbishop of Evora; the service has his arms under a coronet and Archbishop's hat, indicating a date after his elevation to this rank on 22 March 1784. See D. Howard and J. Ayers, op.cit., 1978, vol.II, no.566, p.549 for a plate from the same service as the present lot; and N. de Castro, op.cit., 1988, p.123, and the Catalogue for the 1998 exhibition at the Fundaão Oriente, Lisbon, Caminhos da Porcelana (The Porcelain Route), no.32, p.193, for pieces from the armorial service.