John or Christopher Lethieullier, c. 1725-1730

The crest belongs to the arms of Lethieullier - A parrot proper thus making this the earliest known armorial service made for the British market, with a pictorial scene.

In the 1720s the Lethieullier seems also to have ordered another underglaze blue and white service with their full arms and crest.

Somehow part of that service came to be delivered without the parrots, which should have been displayed on their coat of arms. A very rare mistake in underglaze blue decorated pieces.

From our present knowledge of how things still works out when you order somthing to be made in China, we could assume that these plates quite possibly could have been made as a compensation for the faulty ones, and thus delivered this time with only the parrots.

Biography John Lethieullier (1591-1679) emigrated from Brabant to London in 1605, and his family became one of the richest merchant families of that city.

Of his sons was Sir John Lethieullier of Aldersbrook (1633-1718), Sherif and Alderman of London, and Sir Christopher Lethieullier (1639-1790) also Sherif and Alderman.

His fifth child was Leonora Lethieullier who married Charles Marescoe, and whose daughter married Thomas Fredrik of Westminster.

Sir John's eldest son, John Lethieullier (1659-1731), married in 1695 Elisabeth Smart, and his second son, William Lethieullier, married Mary Salkeld.

It seems most probably that this service was made for John or Christopher Lethieullier, his cousin, son of Sir Christopher and a director of the Bank. Christopher's daughter married Sir Richard Hopkins, and although sometimes recorded as dying in 1728, his actual death was in 1736.

Decoration Extremely delicately painted in underglaze blue and white of a light and soft tone.

Age Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1722-35), c. 1725-30

Size Diameter: 8 1/4 inch. (21 cm)