YONGZHENG PERIOD, CIRCA 1730

From an exceptionally grand and vibrant service made for Philibert Orry, Comte de Vignory (1689-1747), an important royal finance minister under Louis XV who, in the tradition of Colbert, stabilized the budget of the state and worked to develop French industries such as textile and paper. In 1740 he was responsible for the founding of the royal porcelain factory of Vincennes. Orry also worked to reform the Compagnie des Indes. His father and his half-brother also ordered armorial services from China and another relative, Pere Louis-Francois Orry, was the recipient of the very famous letters Pere d'Entrecolles wrote describing the manufacture of porcelain at Jingdezhen. See A. Lebel, French and Swiss Armorials on Chinese Export Porcelain, pp. 324-5.