Each decorated in shades of blue enamel and finely painted grisaille with the script initials PFV beneath a crown and above a large jardinière, all flanked by a pair of smiling guardsmen, the well with the inscription sete barro he outro ounicornio, the rim with swagged drapery
9¹⁄₈ in. (23.3 cm.) diameter

Acquired from Parish Hadley, New York by Ann and Gordon Getty in 1980.

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Lot Essay

This service, once associated with the illegitimate sons of King Joao V of Portugal, was reattributed by Nuno de Castro to the Royal College of Nobles of Lisbon (see Chinese Porcelain and the Heraldry of the Empire, Portugal, 1988, pp. 149-50). De Castro suggests the service was ordered to commemorate the College's 10th anniversary in 1766 with the initials PFV at the center for Padroeira Fidelissima Virgem (Most Faithful Virgin Patroness) in tribute to Our Lady of the Conception. An alternative reading of the initials is JFV, possibly for José Faro e Veiga (1740-1812), who was the second son of a Director and Inspector of the College. A plate from the service was sold Christie's, New York, 14 October 1999, lot 115.