A famille rose armorial cup, Qing dynasty, Yongzheng (1723-35).

The service was ordered by King Frederick I (28/4 1676 – 25/3 1751) and Queen Ulrika Eleonora (23/1 1688 – 24/11 1741), or given to them by the Directors of the SOIC. If one goes by the decoration, it must have been delivered for one of the first ships to return from China, and early 1730’s. The front of the cup bears the Swedish Royal arms under a Royal Crown with the arms of Pfaltz in pretence. This service bears similarities to the one commissioned at the same time with the Hess coat of arm in pretence, se page ….. there are today only a few pieces left of this service that seams to have comprised both dinner service and tea service.

Fredrik was the son of the landgraaf Karl of Hessen Kassel. He married in 1700 after finishing his education, his niece Lovisa Dorotea of Preussen, who died in 1705 before they had any children. In 1715 he marries the Swedish princess Ulrika Eleonora, who after becoming a Queen upon her father Karl XII’s passing away, abdicates in favour of her husband.