Italian-Market Chinese Export Armorial Dish for the Marchesi Di Sorbello

Details

Description

The Marchesi Commission: Armorial Dish for the Bourbon del Monte Family

Object: Rectangular Dish with Cantoned Corners
Origin: Jingdezhen, China … Read more The Marchesi Commission: Armorial Dish for the Bourbon del Monte Family

Object: Rectangular Dish with Cantoned Corners
Origin: Jingdezhen, China (for the European market)
Date: Circa 1780 (Qianlong Period)
Medium: Hard-paste porcelain, overglaze enamels, and gilding

Dimensions: 14 1/2 inches x 11 1/4 inches (36.83 cm x 28.58 cm).

This highly prestigious Chinese Export dish was commissioned for the Italian nobility, specifically for Uguccione III Bourbon del Monte, the 12th Marquis Regent of Sorbello. It represents a pinnacle of the late $18^{th}$-century trend among European elite to order bespoke porcelain services emblazoned with their family's coat-of-arms.

The plate features a sophisticated decorative scheme that frames the central heraldic shield. The wide border is painted with delicate floral swags, while the center bears the Marchesi di Sorbello coat-of-arms. The complex design includes a crown over an armored helmet and supportive military emblems—flags and drums—which signify the family's historical military or diplomatic importance. The white lion rampant within the shield, executed in subtle white enamel, is a mark of high status and bespoke artistry.

Historical Context: Armorial Porcelain and Global Status

Armorial porcelain was the ultimate status symbol of the 18th century. Wealthy families across Europe, often merchants or nobility like the Marchesi, would send wooden models or detailed watercolor drawings of their crests to the port of Canton (Guangzhou). There, Chinese artisans, trained in European painting techniques, would flawlessly reproduce the heraldry onto fine porcelain at the kilns of Jingdezhen.

This dish is a tangible artifact of global patronage. The cost of ordering, shipping, and receiving an entire porcelain service from China was immense, and the finished product served as an unmistakable declaration of the owner's wealth, lineage, and cosmopolitan reach. The commission by the family of Uguccione III, whose father was a notable diplomat, underscores how these services functioned as political and social currency across the courts of Europe.

Reference:
(http://www.casamuseosorbello.org/en/collezioni-porcellane.php)

Uguccione acquired the Palazzo Bourbon di Sorbello in Piazza Piccinino, Perugia, which he filled with fine art and objects, including this service, much of which remains there today.

Other pieces of service in the family's house Museum- see last photo:

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