‘Rockefeller’ part dinner service sells for £11,000 in Shrewsbury auction

A rare, 18^th century, Chinese porcelain ‘Rockefeller’ pattern part dinner service
discovered in Mid Wales sold for £11,000 at leading regional auction house on Wednesday.

The discovery was made by Alexander Clement, senior auctioneer with Halls | The Auction House in Shrewsbury, at one of the company’s regular antiques valuation events in Montgomery.

Inherited by the Mid Wales owner, the 39-piece part dinner service originally belonged to his great great great grandfather Major John Bridge (1777-1837), who served as Sergeant Major with the 45th Regiment and then the 63rd after the Peninsular War, serving under the Duke of Wellington.

At the end of hostilities, he returned to Dublin to become lead Master of the Barracks until his death in 1837. The part service was among possessions passed down through the family.

The ‘Rockefeller’ pattern is a richly decorated type of Chinese export porcelain made in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, principally during the late Qianlong and Jiaqing periods, circa 1790–1810.

It was produced in China for the Western export market, at a time when European and American clients were ordering elaborate Chinese dinner services.

“It was earlier known among collectors as ‘Palace ware’, a term inspired by its sumptuous appearance rather than by any proven connection with the Chinese Imperial Palace,” explained Mr Clement.

“The later name ‘Rockefeller pattern’ arose in the 20th century because important examples were owned by members of the Rockefeller family.

“The family’s collecting of Chinese export porcelain was multi-generational and services with this richly enamelled decoration became known in the West as ‘Rockefeller’ pattern through that association.

“We have sold one or two pieces of a ‘Rockefeller pattern’ dinner service in the past, but to get this many pieces together is very rare and it generated a lot of interest, eventually selling to a Chinese bidder.”

The part dinner service was not the only valuable discovery made at a Montgomery valuation day, as an 18^th century Chinese bronze censer also sold for £5,100.

“The vendor lives in Mid Wales and had no idea what the censer was or if it was worth anything,” revealed Alexander. “It is nicely carved and the calligraphy and mark are really crisp, which definitely impacted its value.”

A collection of 20 samplers from a North Shropshire collector sold for £10,000, with the highlight being a rare 17th-century Huguenot band sampler by Sarah Lethieullier, dated 1695, which sold for £4,400.

Sarah’s Flemish grandfather, Jan (John), escaped in 1605 during religious persecution under the Duke of Alva and settled in Spitalfields, London. The Lethieulliers became one of the richest merchant families in London by trading with the Ottoman Empire.

A collection of Japanese Satsuma pottery from a West Midlands collector sold for £4,000 while a rare Indian carved and jewelled rock crystal figure of an eagle,
Mughal, circa 1850-’60, from a Southern England vendor found a buyer at £2,700.

Other leading prices in the British and Continental ceramics and glass, antiques, clocks and Asian Art auction included £1,800 for a George III, miniature – 2.7inch diameter – terrestrial globe by John Newton, dated 1800, from a Kidderminster vendor, £1,200 for a large bronze figure of a Borghese Gladiator and £1,000 for a John Rose (Coalport), London-decorated armorial part dessert service, circa 1805-1810.

A metal detectorist who discovered a 17th century small silver annular hawking ring

in Market Drayton saw his find sell for £1,000. The ring was traced to Sir John Talbot (1545-1611) who lived at Grafton Manor, near Bromsgrove.

A Wedgwood ‘Travel’ coffee and dinner service and a Wedgwood, ‘Garden’ tea and dinner service, both decorated by artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942), sold for £1.000 and £800, respectively.

Top price in the furniture section was £750 for a 17th century oak wainscot chair from a Cheshire estate while an impressive, late 19^th century French bronze, marble and ormolu figural mantel clock sold for £1,000.

“We are very pleased with the auction result which demonstrates that quality items in good condition sell well,” added Alexander.