A large blue and white armorial punch bowl with cover, Qing dynasty, Qianlong (1736-95).
Decorated with a pair of entwined cranes the arms of the Grill family, with a cricket in their beaks. Around the rim a garland with flowers and mussles. The rim with a relief of lotusscroll. Diameter 39 cm.
Cracks. Crazings. Discolorations.
Provenance
Possibly comissioned for the wedding between Claes Grill (1705-1767) – and his cousin Anna Johanna Grill in 1737.
Claes Grill was one of the most powerful men in Sweden during the 18th Century. He was a director of the Swedish East-India Company, owner of Sweden’s leading merchant house Claes & Carolos Grill, their trade involved shipping, co-owner of a sail and linen manufactory, glassworks, shipyards, a bank and he owned a line of mines and estates. This theory is based on dating of the porcelain and the similarity with a Yongzheng mark and period pieces.
But there is also a possibility that the service was made for Adolph Ulric (1752-1797) som 1778 who marries his cousin Anna Johanna (III) (1753-1809), in 1778. If so it might be designed by Jean Eric Rehn.
The Grill family derives from a Dutch noble family and was not introduced in Sweden. They used the crane with a cricket in its beak as their coat of arms. The enlaced cranes on the service carries the thoughts to the alliance between the two members of the Grill family.
