A very fine example of Chinese export armorial porcelain made for the English market, this 14″ charger is boldly centered with the flamboyant Arms of Lee quartering Astley, one of three services made for the family of Lee of Coton in Shropshire. What is truly remarkable is the border decoration which is finely rendered with alternating scenes of London and the Pearl River just below Canton. Why a family in rural Shropshire ordered a dinner service with these images is not quite known, but the juxtaposition of the London and the Pearl River sum up the growing power and expanse of the English East India Company and the beginnings of the British Empire.  A beautiful object and great historical document. Illustrated and discussed in Howard’s Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Vol. I, page 329. Dating to circa 1735 and with restoration.