KANGXI PERIOD (1662-1722)

The double-headed eagle, or Habsburg eagle, on these plates was the device used by The Order of St. Augustine, and they were most likely ordered for the Spanish or New Spain market. The Spanish Augustinians were established in Manila in the 15th century, and soon after in Macao, Mexico and India, during which time they made their first of several expeditions to China. Numerous Chinese porcelains made their way from the Spanish outpost in Manila to Acapulco during the great eras of the 'Manila galleon trade', defined by J. Mudge as 1573-1620, and again in the late 17th century (Chinese Export Porcelain in North America, New York, 1986, p. 71). Most of these porcelains were blue and white, but Mudge mentions approximately 18 armorial services made for the Mexican market that are represented in the Franz Mayer collection, Mexico City. See William R. Sargent, Chinese Porcelain in the Conde Collection, Mexico, 2014, no. 6, for a very similar plate to the present pair, which was sold at Christie’s New York, 21 January 2003, lot 280; William Sargent mentions that a shard of Imari-decorated Chinese porcelain with the double-headed eagle was found in the Zócalo, Mexico City. Nuno de Castro, in A porcelana chinesa ao tempo do Imperio - Chinese porcelain at the time of the Empire, Portugal/Brasil, 2007, illustrates on pp. 352-356 several examples of Chinese porcelain made for the Order of St. Augustine, ranging in date from circa 1595 to circa 1770, all of which display the Habsburg eagle.