A pair of Dutch Delft blue and white tobacco jars with the royal British coat of arms, late 18th C.

H.: 25 cm

Provenance: A French private collection.

Each jar is marked BP on the base for the 'De Vergulde Blompot' workshop, Delft, active from 1616 to 1841.
They are numbered No. 17 and No. 18, below the Royal British coat of arms, inscribed HONY SOIT QUI MALY PENS (sic.), above the motto DIEU ET MON DROIT.

Armorial Delftware tobacco jars are rare.
Examples are known bearing the Great Seal of the United States (link), the arms of Philip II of Spain (link), the arms of the city of Amsterdam (link), Rotterdam (link) or of the province of Zeeland (link).
An example is also known bearing the Dutch royal coat of arms (link).
The present pair must have been commissioned by a British tobacco marchant, or a Dutch merchant with strong ties to Great-Britain.