451.
TEA CUP
PORCELAIN DECORATED IN
FAMILLE ROSE
ENAMELS AND
GOLD
QING DYNASTY, QIANLONG PERIOD (1736-1795), 1775-1780
ARMS: CORREIA, BRITO, MELO, ALVIM
HEIGHT 6 CM; RIM DIAMETER 8.7 CM;
FOOT DIAMETER 4.3 CM
INV. NO. 18
Cup of rounded ogee shape widening
towards the upper section, a bracket lobed
rim, an arched handle, and a small foot. Made
in fine translucent porcelain.
Painted on the inside with a purple and gold
husk chain below the rim, and on the outside
with a purple chain between narrow bands of
iron red and gold and a purple swagged garland
looped through rings below the rim. On the
opposite side to the handle, the following coat
of arms: fanciful shield, quartered: I – gold,
fretty gules; II – gules, nine lozenges in
tarnished silver, conjoined and aligned 3, 3, 3,
each lozenge charged with a lion (?);
III – gules, a double cross argent, between six
roundels argent and a bordure of the last;
IV – azure, five fleurs-de-lys Or. Coronet with
eight fleurons, five of them visible. 1
The correct representation of the coat of
arms attributed to José Correia de Melo e
Brito de Alvim is as follows: quartered shield:
I – Correia – Or, fretty gules; 2 II – Brito –
gules, nine lozenges argent, conjoined and
aligned 3, 3, 3, each lozenge charged with a
lion purpure; 3 III – Melo – gules, a double
cross Or between six roundels argent, a
bordure Or; 4 IV – Alvim – quartered: 1 and 4
– chequey Or and gules, four pieces in fess
and four in pale; 2 and 3 – azure, five fleurs-
de-lys Or. 5 Nobility coronet.
José Correia de Melo e Brito de Alvim was
born in Sinde, in the diocese of Coimbra, on
the Quinta das Varandas estate. He was the
son of Lourenço Correia de Brito da Silveira,
groom and gentleman of the royal
household,
cruce signatum
of the Holy Office,
lord of the
morgados
of Alpoens in Coimbra,
of Sinde in the Beira region and of Carreira in
Viana, and his wife, Dona Teresa Clara de
Melo. José Brito de Alvim was a groom and
gentleman serving in the royal household,
promoted to gentleman squire by charter of
20 November 1765, and in 1791 became lord
of the
morgados
of Alpoens in Coimbra, of
Sinde in the Beira region, and of Carreira in
Viana, which he inherited from his father. He
married Dona Maria Rita de Sousa e Nápoles,
daughter of Joaquim José Leitão de Sousa,
knight and groom of the household of His
Majesty, and his wife Dona Maria Escolástica
de Nápoles e Meneses. 6
He was full brother to D. Pedro de Melo Brito
da Silveira e Alvim, 16th Bishop of Portalegre,
appointed by King José I in November 1772
and confirmed by Pope Clement XIV in the
consistory of 10 July 1773. 7 There is a similar
cup in the Jorge Mota collection, Oporto. 8
Castro e Solla published a saucer from this
service from his collection 9 and Nuno de
Castro published a coffee cup and saucer
from the same service, belonging to a private
collection. 10
1 Heraldic description by MLCB.
2 Norton, 2004, p. 136.
3 Idem, ibid., p. 102.
4 Idem, ibid., p. 225.
5 Idem, ibid., p. 64.
6 Solla, 1928 (1992 edition), vol. I, p. 40.
7 Almeida, 1970, vol. III, p. 574.
8 Sousa
et al.,
2005, p. 156, no. 57.
9 Almeida, ibid., pp. 40-41, pl. XXII.
10 Castro, 1987, p. 126.
112 .
ARMORIAL CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN