The Commissioning Patrons of Armorial Chinese Porcelain

This chapter looks at the demand for armorial porcelain. It considers the people placing the commissions for armorial porcelain, and their reasons for ordering it. It discusses the first known armorial Chinese porcelain commission by Henry Johnson and Martha Lovelace, and the first known armorial Chinese porcelain dinner service ordered by Thomas Pitt, and then the first known armorial Chinese porcelain coffee service ordered by Henry Gough. The chapter discusses the social background of those ordering armorial porcelain from China and considers specific services including the commissions of Robert Child, Anthony Duncombe and the order Robert Blatchford placed on behalf of James Brydges Duke of Chandos. The chapter examines on the kinship networks of those ordering porcelain and looks at the armorial porcelain commissions of the Pitt family, the Gough Hinde families and finally the Walpole family. The chapter then considers the practice of replacing armorial Chinese porcelain service pieces with English armorial porcelain pieces, and considers the armorial services of Mary Bootle, Dukes of Hamilton and the Talbot family and Pulteney family.