circa 1718, crest of Page of Gosport in Hampshire to rim, a gilt demi seahorse, on blue ground with gilt highlights, center of bowl decorated in the Imari taste, 8-7/8 in.

Note: "Sir Gregory Page of Greenwich, a very wealthy brewer and East Indies merchant, was MP for New Shoreham in Sussex and a director of the East India Company. He was created a baronet in December 1714. He married Mary, daughter of Thomas Trotman of London, in 1690 and died in May 1720. A service of identical style was also made with their full arms of Page impaling Trotman, and a third similar service for Sir Gregory’s daughter Mary, who married Edward Turner in May 1718; almost certainly all three services made at the same time."

Chinese Armorial Porcelain Volume I, David S. Howard, Faber & Faber, 31 May 1974, p. 179-180 for all three services.

Provenance: Heirloom & Howard, Ltd., UK, January 2004; Christopher M. Weld, Essex, Massachusetts

scratching, anomalies (as made), spotting, some wear to gilt and paint decoration, minor chipping to foot ring, labels to base, black light fluoresces reveals two hairline cracks, minor in-painting to rim