Dia.: 23 cm

Ref.: 
- For the arms and an identical example, see D.S. Howard, 'Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Vol. I', p. 612. 

The arms were granted on 25 May 1761 to Joseph Clerke, and differ from those which he had used previously: Chequy argent and azure, two chevrons gules, on a canton or, an anchor sable; crest: Out of a naval coronet or, a moor’s head proper; motto: Ose et espère (“Dare and hope”).

This family descends from John Clerke, born at Wethersfield in Essex, who became M.D. in 1615. The estate at Wethersfield passed through nephews to Joseph Clerke, who married around 1740 and had a son, Charles.
Charles entered the Navy at the age of fourteen and saw continuous service during the Seven Years’ War, being present on the Bellona when it captured the Courageux in 1761. In 1763 he sailed with Commodore Byron around the world on the Dolphin.

In 1768 he joined Captain Cook as master’s mate and completed a circumnavigation of the globe. He did so again under Cook in 1772. In 1776 Clerke commanded the Discovery, while Cook captained the Resolution, and he was present when Cook was killed in 1779. Clerke then took command of the expedition, but died of consumption later that same year in the Pacific and was buried beneath a tree in Avatcha Bay.

Because of the naval coronet and anchor, it has been assumed that this service was made for Captain Charles Clerke, but it is more likely that Joseph Clerke, who was very proud of his son, registered the arms himself in 1761, in the hope that Charles would settle and succeed him. Whether the knight’s helm above the arms was a hopeful embellishment or simply an error remains uncertain. (Source: D.S. Howard, 'Chinese Armorial Porcelain, Vol. I')

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