armorial ware

File:Plate Duke of Clarence BM 1887 0307 V 83.jpg, 1789, Worcester porcelain, Flight factory, Diameter: 9.7 inches]]

File:Duke of Hamilton Derby Dinner Service.jpg dinner service for the 8th Duke of Hamilton, circa 1780–1790]]

Armorial ware or heraldic china (and a variety of other terms) are ceramics decorated with a coat of arms, either that of a family, or an institution or place. Armorials have been popular on European pottery from the Middle Ages with examples seen on Spanish Hispano-Moresque ware, Italian maiolica, slipware, English and Dutch Delft, and on porcelain from the 18th century. Earlier examples were mostly large pieces such as jugs or basins and ewers, but later whole table services, all painted with the arms, were produced.

Silver tableware also often had coats of arms engraved on it, but as porcelain replaced metal as the favoured material for elite tableware in the 18th century, armorial porcelain became very popular. When overglaze decoration was used, the pottery could produce the glazed ware without the arms, which were then added when a commission was received.

File:Place card-01.jpg with the arms of the United States]]

The term is most often associated with Chinese export porcelain, often decorated with the arms and crests of European and American families from the late 17th century through the 19th century.{{cite web|last1=Nilsson|first1=Jan-Erik|title=Armorial porcelain|url=http://gotheborg.com/glossary/armorial.shtml#G|website=www.gotheborg.com/|publisher=Jan-Erik Nilsson|access-date=6 January 2015}} A painting of the arms was sent out to China, and after a considerable period the painted service arrived. British clients imported about 4000 services from 1695 until 1820, when a new prohibitive tax stopped the trade, as the British government sought to protect the domestic potteries.{{cite book|editor-first= Stephen|editor-last= Friar|title= A New Dictionary of Heraldry|location= London|year= 1987|publisher= Alphabooks/A&C Black|isbn= 0-906670-44-6|page=103}}

They were, and even more are, often used at table only on special occasions. They are popular with collectors. Seventeenth-century Dutch armorial plates are called wapenborden and were commonly sold with recurring emblems that cannot be traced to any specific family.

File:Manises Basin with arms of Maria of Castile VA 243-1853.jpg|Hispano-Moresque ware, Manises, basin with arms of Maria of Castile, before 1458

File:Nicola da urbino, piatto con il supplizio di marsia, 1525 ca..JPG|Italian maiolica dish by Nicola da Urbino, c. 1525, with story of Marsyas

File:Bord, veelkleurig beschilderd met een wapen met als helmteken een vogel met gestrekte vleugels. Gekartelde rand..jpeg|1620 – c. 1640 Dutch armorial plate, Rijksmuseum

File:Custard Cup and Cover LACMA 33.1.1.6a-b (1 of 2).jpg|Chinese "custard cup", c. 1750

File:Porslins-tallrik med Grillska vapnet.jpg|Plate for the Swedish Grill family, China, 18th century

File:Willem Jansz. Verstraeten - Scotel met onbekende wapen BK-NM-14179.jpg|1645–1655 Haarlem armorial plate, Rijksmuseum