blue and white services with irish armorials

Irish Arts Review

Blue and White Services with Irish ArmorialsAuthor(s): Cynthia O'ConnorSource: Irish Arts Review (1984-1987), Vol. 4, No. 1 (Spring, 1987), pp. 58-60Published by: Irish Arts ReviewStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20491953 .

Accessed: 17/06/2014 23:21

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Irish Arts Review is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Irish Arts Review(1984-1987).

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.21 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 23:21:17 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=iar

http://www.jstor.org/stable/20491953?origin=JSTOR-pdf

http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


IRISH ARTS REVIEW

BLUE AND WHITE SERVICES WITH IRISH ARMORIALS

ast India Company armorial services in blue and white were rarely

commissioned for the English market at the end of the eighteenth century. Poly chrome continued to be popular and armorials lent themselves peculiarly to colour, even at the risk of distortion of the statutory heraldic tinctures in the hands of Chinese painters. Less than a dozen services solely in blue and white are recorded and three of these, because of distinctive features, can be placed in a group apart. Devoid of Chinese decorative motifs, which in itself is unusual, they have Irish armorials and are further distinguished by borders of ornamental chain, two of which are representations of the Collar of the

Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, the other probably imaginary, but designed to correspond.1

The first example is from the service made for James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charlemont (1728-1799). He was one of the fifteen founder knights of the Order of St. Patrick instituted by George III in 1783. The Collar of the Order, except that it is in underglaze blue and not the statutory gold, red and white, is a tolerable representation of the roses and harps alternate tied together with a knot and, at the centre, an imperial crown surmounting a harp from which hangs the badge with the

motto Quis seperabit MDCCLXXXIII. The motto is repeated in the bordure of the arms at the centre over his own

motto Deo Duce Ferro Comittante. The figure of Justice in the service

made for Peter Metge of Athlumney, Co. Meath, pertains to his office, first as a

judge of the Admiralty Court 1782 and then as a Baron of the Court of the Exchequer. His arms in blue and white take on a royal appearance and could pass for the arms of France and Scotland. His grandfather, a Huguenot with large estates in Brittany, had settled in Ireland after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His mother, a Miss Lyon, claimed relationship with the Earls of Strathmore. Hoc Age is the motto and the initials P.M. appear on the column.

The service has for its border a chain, perhaps of an imaginary order.2

The third example shows again the Collar of the Order of St. Patrick and, incongruously, what appears to be the badge of the 88th Regiment, the Con naught Rangers, the crowned harp and

Cynthia O'Connor's extensive research into the collections of the 1st Earl of Charlemont led her to

investigate the origins of his armorial blue and white porcelain and those of other similar pieces.

Plate from the Charlemont service. National Institute for

Higher Education, Limerick

motto of the first battalion raised mainly in Connaught in 1793. But if the service was commissioned for the regiment, it had no right to the Collar of the Order and if for an individual, as seems so much more probable, which of the companion-knights had any direct connection with the regiment? It is suggested here that the badge is not of the regiment, but a liberal translation of the badge of the Order.

Hitherto little was known of the his tory of any of the three services, when and where they were commissioned and by whom, though some link between the three was assumed. Recently un earthed documentation provides some answers and establishes what had long been suspected, a connection at least between the Charlemont and Metge commissions.

James Caulfeild, 1st Earl of Charle mont and Peter Metge3 were connected through Metge's marriage to one of the daughters of Sir Marcus Lowther Crofton, whose other daughters had married Caulfeilds. Furthermore there was a political link. Metge was an adherent of Grattan's party and also like Charlemont, Grattan and Flood and a number of the legal profession, a Monk

of the Screw, that is a member of the convivial dining club founded in 1779 by Barry Yelverton, later Lord Avon more; John Philpot Curran was Prior of the Order. However, what turns out to be more pertinent to this present enquiry is that in 1788 Metge and Charlemont were together in trying to do something for an unfortunate barrister, referred to by Charlemont as "poor Burroughs".

The exact nature of William Burroughs' misfortune is not known, but brought to "the Brink of Ruin" and no longer with any prospects in Ireland, he sought recourse in exile. It was

Metge who prevailed upon Charlemont to use his interests for Burroughs' advancement abroad.

In giving his protection to Burroughs, Charlemont was serving the interests of a family ostensibly under the protection of his arch-rival, Frederick Augustus Hervey, Earl of Bristol and Bishop of Derry. William's father, the Rev. Lewis Burroughs,4 Archdeacon of Derry, had been the Earl Bishop's intimate friend. Newburgh, William's brother, had the liv ing at Ballyscullion and was at the same time, domestic chaplain to the Duke of

Dorset, then British Ambassador in Paris. It was from Paris that Newburgh Burroughs wrote to Charlemont in April 1789 of his gratitude that his brother, by then on his way to India, went with "high and powerful recom mendation as I trust will acquire him a fortune superior to that of which he has been deprived of at home".5

The poignancy of Burroughs' situation was that he was married and had a young family at home in Co. Cavan. His wife, Letitia, was the daughter of William Newburgh of Ballyhaise. Built by Richard Castle, Ballyhaise stands today, a testimony to the one time grandeur of the Newburghs. Whether there was an earlier relationship between the two families, which would account for William's brother being named

Newburgh, is not known. Charlemont, through his friendship

with Edmund Burke, was acquainted with Philip Francis who had returned, for the first time, to the city of his birth and at Burke's request had called on Charlemont. It was through Charle mont's interests with the two men, both influential in East India Company affairs, that it was hoped something

-58



IRISH ARTS REVIEW


might be done for Burroughs. Burroughs, on arriving in London

early in 1789, was, thanks to Charlemont, well received. But had he not himself shown initiative it was unlikely that he

would have sailed for Bengal believing, as he did, his future was already secure. Burroughs' motto was Audaces fortuna juvat. On April 3rd6 he wrote Charle

mont an amusing account of his advent ures. Having received a message from a friend, who gave for direction "the Prince of Wales C. House", Burroughs not knowing or pretending not to know of the coffee house, went to Carlton House to enquire and finding his error, he was on the way out when he met Burke. Burke greeted him, took him "cordially" by the hand and leading him back into the house, introduced him to

Mr. Anthony St. Leger. The Prince was not yet up having been at a ball the night before, but Burroughs took the opportunity to mention to St. Leger that he would be leaving for Calcutta in a few days with a hint that the Prince

might have correspondence for Lord Cornwallis. Burke followed this up by finding an occasion to tell the Prince that "Burroughs was a man, who had been very unfortunate, had a large family, great merit and the good wishes of many of his Royal Highness's friends in Ireland". Burke also "seized" upon

Lord Rawdon. Thus it was that, follow ing a successful audience with the Prince, Burroughs went into exile carry ing with him letters from the Prince,

Lord Rawdon and the Duke of Dorset to Lord Cornwallis.

Burroughs' first letter7 to Charlemont from Calcutta is dated December 8th, 1789. The voyage was likely to take six

months and this was rather longer. A storm after leaving England had nearly thrown Burroughs back on Ireland's hostile shores, but safely arrived at last, he was the guest of Mr. Bristow, Head of the Commercial Department, to whom

Charlemont had previously written. Perhaps in an oblique reference to

Warren Hastings, whose chief accusers were Francis and Burke, or other nabobs, Burroughs hastened to assure Charlemont that Bristow, "one of the richest British subjects now in India, enjoyed a perfectly unblemished charac ter".

As to his own prospects, the attention generally shown was flattering and he had been received with "a great appearance of good intentions" by the Governor General himself, Lord Cornwallis. But Cornwallis, in replying on December 2nd to letters of 2nd and 3rd April from Lord Rawdon brought to him by

Burroughs and another, wrote, "To Burroughs I can probably do little more than show the most cordial civility, in

which you may be assured I shall not be deficient".8

Burroughs' own estimation of his prospects proved sound. He very soon saw that barristers out of office were "overstocked" and as he wrote Charle

mont at a later date, "No man out of

the service of the Company can look for a share of the emoluments at the disposal of the Government here".9 He and his friends were ambitious for the appointment of him as Advocate General; the present man being "very rich and unhealthy"10 could not with safety long delay his retirement.

On 3rd May, 1790, Philip Francis wrote from London to Charlemont of his pleasure that the introductory letters given to Burroughs had been "in some degree successful".11 In a letter dated August 16th, Burroughs reported that following the death of the Second

Consul to the Company from an attack by a leopard, Lord Cornwallis had appointed him in his place.12

By November of 1791 Burroughs confirmed that he was growing rich and was now assured of succeeding the out going Judge Advocate, his only concern being that, with Cornwallis's impending departure, no future Governor General would think of removing him. The post would bring him, besides additional income, a clear ?2,000 a year. While, as yet, success was not com

pletely ensured, on August 16th, 1790, Burroughs under a great obligation to Charlemont, made a preliminary gesture towards repaying his debt to his bene factor. The presents would come later. In a tactful reference to Charlemont's financial situation, brought about mainly by the ruinous cost of building the Casino at Marino, Burroughs wrote, "Recollecting that shortly before the

w- 0~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~1

Oval dish from the so-called Connaught Rangers service. Oval dish from the Metge service. Courtesy David Howard Courtesy David Howard

-59



IRISH ARTS REVIEW


commencement of my exile I heard yr Lordp. say that you were desirous of borrowing at 5% Cent a sum sufficient to discharge all Demands on your Estate, that you might have but one Creditor & might so reduce the Deduction out of your Income for Interest Money"13 such a loan was forthcoming from a gentleman in the service of the East India Company, who

was connected with many of Charle mont's friends.

The intimacy between Burroughs and Charlemont is here clearly established. Burroughs wrote to Charlemont over a period of four years, and the letters reflect rather more of the recipient's interests, tastes and opinions than the

writer's. He reported on the Literary Society and on Sir William Jones, the oriental scholar known to Charlemont, and on his work "of great labour" translating from the ancient Hindu language the most sacred and venerable books of Eastern laws and religion. In commenting on Lord McCartney's Embassy, he employs such phrasing and attitude of mind as might have come straight from one of Charlemont's essays on his travels, "I am convinced you cannot hear, with Truth, of any object having been accomplished worth a tenth part of the Trinkets which Lord

McCartney carried to the good old Monarch of that astonishing country".14

But it is above all in his description of Chowringhee that we see how well he has studied Charlemont; "The Beauty of this Settlement in particular, where every house of consequence (and many Hundreds of that description there are) is detached from those nearest it, is surrounded either by Spacious Courts or Lawns, as verdant now as your own

Marino, is approached through magnifi cent Gateways adorned by regular Porticos and Colonades, compos'd of a kind of Lime and water called Chunan, which stands the weather, and bears a polish little less beautiful than statuary marble, in perfect conformity to Grecian rules and orders of Architecture, might be dissertated on for Hours and pages

might also be written in just praises of the Felicity, Industry and Population of this country, in just praises of the climate which is now the mildest and

most delightful I have ever seen and answers to the most favourable Accounts of that I have heard your Lordship describe in speaking of the Grecian Islands".15

Burroughs' final letter is dated March 11th, 1794. This letter is incomplete in the version published by the Historical

Manuscripts Commission; it is from the original manuscript in the Royal Irish Academy that the following excerpt is taken: "I have informed the Baron that at last my friend at Canton tells me he has effected a Commission I gave him long since for procuring in China two

Table Services of the best sort they manufacture there to be presented to your Lordship and him. They go this year to England and will be forwarded from thence by my agents. Your Lord ship I hope will not refuse me the

Honour I shall desire by your accept ance of them, should they be worth receiving as I hope they will. They are not to be shewy, but as to Quality will I believe be the best to be had. They paint so badly that I did not venture to put anything but your Arms and the Collar of St. Patrick into their hands, which they are to execute in their best Blue and White only".16

A more satisfactory explanation for the idiosyncrasies of this curious group of Irish armorial porcelain could hardly have been forthcoming, but we still do not know for whom the third service was commissioned, almost certainly by Burroughs for another friend or bene factor.

It may be significant that the Marquess Comwallis when he was appointed Viceroy to Ireland in 1798 was invested on June 20th as a Grand Master of the Order of St. Patrick,17 but from what we know of Burroughs' subsequent career another possibility arises.

The exact date of Burroughs' return to Ireland has not been determined, but between 1802 and 1806 he was M.P. for

the Borough of Enniskillen. In 1803 his wife died. He was created a baronet in 1804. In 1807 he returned to Calcutta as a puisne judge of the East India Company establishment and held the appointment until 1812. Thereafter he was briefly M.P. for Colchester and then Taunton. When he died in 1839, his only son having succumbed to wounds at the siege of Bayonne, the baronetcy became extinct.

From such scanty information little can be deduced except that Burroughs, in representing the Borough of Ennis killen, was perhaps behoven to John

Willoughby, Viscount Cole, Governor of the County of Fermanagh and M.P. for Enniskillen, until he succeeded his father as 2nd Earl of Enniskillen in 1803. On 27th April 1810, while Burroughs was serving his second term in Calcutta, the 2nd Earl was invested a knight of the Order of St. Patrick.18

Was the third service commissioned by Burroughs for Lord Enniskillen?

Cynthia O'Connor

NOTES

1. D.S. Howard & J. Ayers, China for the West,

London, 1978, pp. 431-2.1 wish to thank Mr.

Howard for his help in the preparation of this

article.

2. Ibid.

3. F. Elrington Ball, The Judges in Ireland 1221

1921, London, 1926, Vol. 2, pp. 168-9, 221.

4. Rev. J.B. Leslie, Derry Clergy and Parishes,

Enniskillen, 1937. 5. Royal Irish Academy, Charlemont MSS

12.R.15,No.49. 6. Historical Manuscripts Commission, 13 th

Report, Appendix Part VIII (1894), pp. 91-2.

7. Ibid. p. 111.

8. ed. C. Ross, Correspondence of Charles, First

Marquess Comwallis, London, 1859, Vol. 1,

pp. 449-450.

9.R.I.A., 12.R.16,No.44. 10. H.M.C., op. cit., p. 110.

11. R.I.A., op. cit., 12.R.16., No. 28.

12. Ibid, No. 44. 13. Ibid.

14. H.M.C., op. cit., p. 232.

15. Ibid, p. 110.

16. R.I.A., op. cit., 12.R.18., No. 6.

17. Peter Galloway, The Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick, Chichester, 1983, p. 115.

18. Ibid, p. 120.

-60



blue and white services with irish armorials

Documents