A really fine pair of Chinese export porcelain ‘Governor Duff’ plates, elaborately hand-painted in the Imari palette and made for the western market, decorated with the central image of a European couple walking with their dog through a Chinese garden, all within an ornately rendered foliate border interspersed with ‘antique’  and scholarly objects. Purportedly this is based upon an image of the Dutch governor of Batavia and his wife, but there is no conclusive evidence bearing this out. Either way, they are early and important images documenting Europeans in the Far East, beautifully decorated and in great condition. Measuring 9″ in diameter. Circa 1730.