An extremely rare Chinese armorial plate c.1755

An extremely rare Chinese armorial plate c.1755, painted with the arms of Fitzroy, Duke of Grafton, above a scene of large exotic birds perched on rocky outcrops before a figure fishing from a small boat, the scalloped rim with a border of foliate scrolls en grisaille, 22.6cm. Provenance: the Clifford Henderson collection. Purchased from Betty Gertz, Dallas in 1984. Previously in Antwerp. Exhibited: English Ceramics Circle, Armorials Exhibition 2008. Label to the reverse. Illustrated: D S Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Vol II, p.221. Clifford Henderson, a scion of the Grafton family, has been in correspondence with the 11th Duke of Grafton, who was unaware of the existence of this service and who has found no record of it at Euston Hall (the family seat in Suffolk). No other examples are known.