Plate, Qianlong c.1745, with the arms of Napier of Ballikinrain
A plate of c.1745, from one of just seven services with a scene of Fort St George, Madras, in the centre, with the crest and arms of Napier of Ballikinrain, near Glasgow, on the upper and lower rim.
The service probably ordered by George Napier, younger brother of James Napier, Twelfth Laird of Ballikinrain, who was a wealthy ’Russia merchant’ in London and at St Petersburg. A family history reveals that George "... prospered greatly and was the means of assisting to relieve the old family estate from debt, and adding to it by purchases from the neighbouring lairds. A picture of the Czarina of Russia was brought home by him and now hangs at Ballinkinrain".
Letters from 1747 show George encouraging his young nephew, the next Laird, to wed, and with the Valentine pattern on the rim replacing the shipping scenes on the Cooke plate above (the only example to do so), this service may well have been bought for such a marriage.
Reference : Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Volume I, p.320 with additional information above.
Condition : Body crack consolidated, faintly visible
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