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52
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Porcelain dish with a coat-of-arms decoration, previously un…
See original version (French)
52
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Porcelain dish with a coat-of-arms decoration, previously un…
See original version (French)
Estimate €1,000 - €1,500
Voluntary lot
Description
Porcelain dish with a coat-of-arms decoration, previously unseen on the Franco-Irish market (Sutton of Clonard), China. Qianlong period (1736–1795), circa 1770. The small dish is decorated in the ‘famille rose’ colour scheme with garlands of flowers and bears, on the rim, the coat of arms and crest of Thomas Sutton of Wexford (Ireland), Count of Clonard in France, Or, a double-tailed lion rampant gules standing on a lizard vert, surmounted by a crest: issuing from a ducal crown Or, a half-lion with a double tail sinople. Dimensions: 28.5 cm x 18 cm. Very good condition.
Thomas Sutton (1722–1782), a descendant of an
Irish family based in Wexford, secretly supported
the interests of the Stuarts and Louis XV
before settling permanently in France in 1756,
at the start of the Seven Years’ War. In 1742, he had
married Lady Philis Masterson of Castletown, with whom he had eleven children.
A relative on his mother’s side of the merchant Antoine Walsh, he was part of the
powerful Franco-Irish merchant networks of the 18th century. A wealthy
shipowner, merchant and privateer, first in Wexford and then in Bordeaux,
he also owned plantations in the West Indies and substantial
landholdings in France. Louis XV granted him letters patent of
nobility in 1763 and, three years later, Sutton acquired the barony of
Lugo, near Bordeaux. As a director of the East India Company
from 1766 to 1770, he was also a shareholder and contributed to its
financing during the difficult years following the War of the Seven
. He also invested considerable sums in
colonial trade, notably in the family’s
plantations in Saint-Domingue. A financier and speculator
who shared Choiseul’s views, he became one
of the leading financial figures of the
1770s. In partnership with the banker Isaac Panchaud,
he helped establish the Caisse
d’escompte and, together with him, acquired in 1777 the
Bas-Meudon glassworks, which would later become the Verrerie de
Sèvres. Maintaining relations with several
political figures of his time, he
also provided ships and capital to
support the French effort in the American
War of Independence. He died in Angoulême on 13
September 1782. His son Robert Sutton de Clonard
(1751–1788), a naval officer, took part in the
American War of Independence before joining the
Pérouse. Having become commander of L’Astrolabe, he went missing along with
the expedition during the shipwreck at Vanikoro in 1788. This commission
is previously unpublished. We would like to thank Angela Howard for the information
she provided on this Franco-Irish commission.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Lot description modified on 10/13/2026 at 6:12 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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