Set of Dishes [Ch228]
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province; Qing Dynasty, Jiaqing Period, c. 1810
Porcelain with underglaze blue decoration, in a black lacquer box inlaid with mother of pearl (central dish D. 10.5 cm, other dishes each L. 13cm, the box D. 31 cm)
These dishes, decorated with lotus flowers and still in their original lacquer box, were purchased by John Reeves (1774-1856) in Canton (Guangzhou). Reeves was appointed inspector of tea for the British East India Company in 1808, and arrived in China in 1812. He was a keen naturalist, who commissioned many drawings of Chinese animals and plants, now in the collections of the Natural History Museum and the Royal Horticultural Society. Reeves’s muntjac and Reeves’s pheasant are named after him, as well as four species of reptile. He introduced a number of garden plants to the West, most notably Wisteria sinensis.
Provenance: John Reeves (1774-1856), and thence by descent; Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, 19-20 May 2010, lot. 831; accepted in lieu of Inheritance tax by HM Government from the estate of Anthony du Boulay in 2024 and allocated to the Winchester College Treasury Museum.
Location: Not on display
