Description:
One of two Chinese export porcelain plates with the top of the elaborate rim decorated with the crest ("A naked arm embowed holding a sword all proper the point pierced through a fleur-de-lis sable") of a branch of the Irish family of McMahon, probably of County Clare, Ireland, and the initials "D.M." on the bottom. The motto of this branch is 'Manus haec inimica tyrannis; or 'This hand is an enemy to tyrants.' The dished rim has four blue, orange, rose, and gilt torch devices with gilt foliate sprays and two rose, green, and gilt cone-shaped pendants with gilt scrolls; the curvature has a gilt band with white shell pattern; and the well is plain white. According to Catherine Coleman Brawer: "The design is an example of a European pattern adapted to Chinese export porcelain for the Irish and British markets after the East India Company ceased to import porcelain on its own account. The new intricacy of patterns at this time was perhaps made possible by the recent availability of painters who had been previously been kept busy by East India Company orders." Also see plate, HD 56.340.1, with the same decoration.
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