Hot water tureen, Daoguang c.1830, with arms of Nairne
A circular hot water dish with domed cover from a hitherto unrecorded service, c.1830, of comparatively scarce form with original fitted cover, and with a unique overall design not quite matching other 19th century armorial examples.
The Chinese characters inside the four gold rings (see image of base) read anticlockwise from right to left as 吉祥如意 [Jíxiáng rúyì] which is a popular phrase expressing auspicious good wishes such as ‘Good Fortune as desired’.
This was undoubtedly made for Captain Alexander Nairne (1785-1866) of the East India Company, who retired from the maritime service in 1832. Descended from the Nairnes of Sandford of East Neuk in Fife, Alexander was born in the coastal village of Pittenweem to the Revd. Dr James Nairne, the Presbyterian minister, and Helen Kyd, daughter of Captain James Kyd, a naval officer. He joined the Navy but after serving at the Battle of Copenhagen, disillusioned by both the conditions and behavior of his fellow officers, approached his uncle, General Alexander Kyd, Surveyor General of Bengal, to find a position in the East India Company where discipline was stricter.
The Kyd family already had a significant presence in Kidderpore (now Khidirpur, a district of Kolkata and near Fort William), founding the botanical gardens and as master builders of the government dockyards where a number of EIC ships were built, plying routes between England, Madras and China, carrying passengers as well as cargo. Joining the EIC as a midshipman in 1803, Alexander worked his way up until ten years later he was given command of his uncle’s ship, the General Kyd on her maiden voyage after launching in 1813. He made at least nine voyages on the General Kyd as captain, and also became Commodore of the India fleet. He appears to have been a very likeable personality, and after a voyage in 1821 an effusive letter of thanks was written (and a piece of silver presented) by some of the passengers which was published in the Morning Chronicle in March 1822. Alexander’s final visit to Canton was made in September 1831, on a voyage from England which included calls at St Helena, Bombay and Singapore. He retired on her return home in 1832. He would certainly have carried this armorial tureen, and the rest of the service, home with him.
Reference : [With thanks to A Stream of Lives: six generations of a British family, by Angela Coulter (2021), Chapter Six, The Sea Captain: Alexander Nairne.]
To be illustrated in a third volume of Chinese Armorial Porcelain
Click image to enlarge