Yongzheng period (1723-35), circa 1732, porcelain octagonal serving platter, hand painted in polychrome enamels with the coat of arms of the Best family of Kent impaling Crook family of Studley in Oxfordshire, made to celebrate the marriage of George Best and Sarah Crook, decorated along the rim with garland and floral blooms.

11 1/8 x 14 5/8 in.

Private Collection, Virginia Beach, Virginia Collected by the consignor and her husband with the guidance of David Sanctuary Howard, who literally wrote the book on Chinese Armorial porcelain. The couple began collecting during the 1970s from galleries and auction houses across Europe and the United States, and even from Howard himself. This collection is a very special offering of some rare and wonderful pieces collected over a lifetime with great care and passion.

Christie's

This platter was illustrated in Howard, David S. Chinese Armorial Porcelain, 1974: London, Farber and Farber, Ltd., p. 241.


Good estate condition; some rubbing to the decoration, minor hairline to the rim and glaze flake at the rim; old labels to reverse.