Astiguiea, or Astiguieta, family, in two of the
armorial works consulted. One of the sources
did not make any reference to heraldic
colours, or any alternative to the code of
Father Petra Sancta, and had the following
description: per pale: 1st – three crosses in
pale and a bordure charged with fifteen
saltires; 2 2nd – nine
panelas
(leaf or heart-
shaped pieces) in fess and aligned in pale 3,
3, 3, 3 a bordure charged with twelve saltires.
In the second, the heraldic description is as
follows: Asteguieta – Basque – Alava: party
per pale: 1st – argent, three crosses fleury
gules palewise, a bordure azure charged with
fifteen saltires Or; 2nd – vert, with nine
panelas
argent in fess and aligned in pale 3,
3, 3, a bordure Or charged with twelve
saltires gules. 4
Although these coats of arms do not
correspond there seems to be no doubt that,
despite the inaccuracies, the one displayed
here does represent the arms of the
Asteguiea family, as indicated in the scroll.
The coat of arms on this tureen and stand
was attributed to Pedro Lamberto de
Asteguieta, who was born in Foronda (Álava)
on 17 September 1706, and died in Manila,
without descendants, on 30 December 1774.
In 1723, he sailed to New Spain, where he
worked for the Marquis of Santa Fé de
Guardiola. He lived in Manila from at least
1742, where he took up trading. He was also
consul for two years in the Royal Consulate
in Manila, an institution which always
supported traditional trade with Acapulco. 5
In this service comprising 240 pieces made
for this Spanish family, there were at least
five animal-shaped tureens with the coat of
arms, including this cockerel, a goose, and a
boar’s head with their respective stands. 6
The animal-shaped tureens made in China
were inspired in European models produced
in faience at the Strasbourg factory, under
the direction of Paul Hannong, in Meissen,
the Real Fábrica de Louça, ao Rato, Lisbon,
under its first director, the Italian Tomas
Brunetto.
Howard suggests that many tureens with
coats of arms like this one were made for
the Portuguese and Spanish markets.
There is a similar tureen in the shape of a
cockerel, but with a different cockerel
decorating the stand, both bearing the coat
of arms of the Bermudez family from
Galicia, 7 now attributed by Rocío Díaz to
Jose Antonio Armona; 8 a tureen, probably
made from the same mould, but without a
coat of arms and decorated in a slightly
different palette, in the Peabody Essex
Museum, Salem, Massachusetts, 9 and
another one belonging to the John T.
Dorrance Jr. Collection.
There is yet another tureen in the shape of a
cockerel, without a coat of arms, in a private
Portuguese collection, 10 and a tureen stand
decorated with a cockerel carrying a basket
of flowers on its back, also in a private
collection. 11
Provenance:
Robert and Melanie Gill Collection, USA
Published in:
Boulay, 1984, pp. 302-03, no. 1
1 Heraldic description by MLCB.
2 Crespo, 1984, pp. 378 and 467, no. 101.
3 Idem, ibid., p. 105.
4 Gonzalez-Doria, 1994, part II, p. 428.
5 See Rocío Díaz,
Porcelana china para España,
to be
published in 2010.
6 Boulay, 1984, pp. 302-03, no. 1.
7 Sargent, 1991, pp. 209-11, no. 101.
8 See Rocío Díaz,
Porcelana china para España,
to be
published in 2010.
9 Sargent, ibid.
10 Antunes, 1998, p. 270, no. 89.
11 Mudge, 1986, p. 80, no. 123.
270 .
ARMORIAL CHINESE EXPORT PORCELAIN