QIANLONG PERIOD, CIRCA 1743

This service was made for Leake Okeover and Mary Nichol, who married in about 1730. It is probably the most famous of the great English armorial services of the 18th century, not only for its elaborate design, which was painted by the English portraitist Arthur Devis (1708-1787) and then sent to China to be copied, but the fact that both the painting and the original invoice for the service have survived and still remain with descendants of the family. The invoice was addressed to 'Leake Okeover Esqre.' from Joseph Congreve, commander of the Prislowe, and shows that the consignment comprised large dishes and plates, all bearing these arms. For a discussion on this important service, see D.S. Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, 1974, p.398.

The bulk of the Leake Okeover service, belonging to Colonel Sir Ian Walker-Okeover, Bt, DSO, was sold at Christies’s, London, 3 March 1975, lots 165-184, and was displayed during the view together with the original painting and invoice mentioned above, although these were not for sale. A plate was more recently sold as part of The Peter H. Frelinghuysen Jr. Collection of Chinese Export, Christie’s, New York, 24 January 2012, lot 25, and another from The Sowell Collection, Christie’s, New York, 26 January 2015, lot 157.

Examples of plates from this service are in major museums around the world, such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, and the Metropolitan Museum, New York.