An Extremely Rare Chinese Export Reticulated Porcelain Plate from the Great Armorial Service Made for Catherine II the Great Qing Dynasty, Qianlong, circa 1785 9-3/4 x 10-7/8 inches (24.8 x 27.6 cm) PROVENANCE: John Atzbach Antiques, Bellevue, Washington; The Kathleen Durdin Collection of Russian Decorative Arts, Tampa, Florida. Catherine II was a collector of Chinese porcelain as well as a commissioner of several export services. The first extremely impressive export service was ordered around 1745, and a second one more heavily influenced by Neoclassicism was ordered in 1785. This plate from the Great Armorial Service of 1785 used as its model the Josiah Wedgwood "Green Frog" Service. While plain pieces from the 1785 service do appear at auction, the reticulated pieces are quite rare. For a related plate with a reticulated rim from this service see : Chinese Export Porcelain, Elvehjem Museum of Art (Catherine Coleman Brawer, Elvehjem Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin-Madison,1992, p. 53, pl. 29. For a pierced basket from this armorial service see also one offered at Christie's New York, Chinese Export Art, January 23rd, 2001, lot 186. Property from the Kathleen Durdin Collection HID12401132022 © 2024 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved