Gaming Counter with the Arms of Bootle
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The arms of the Bootle family of Lancashire, England, decorate this counter. The counter is from a set made for one of two brothers; Robert Bootle (about 1708-1758), a captain and later member of the Board of Directors of the Honourable East India Company, or Sir Thomas Bootle (1685-1753), an English attorney, Member of Parliament, and Chancellor to two successive Princes of Wales (the heir to the British throne).[i]
Whoever owned the counters, they were almost certainly commissioned by Robert, either during one of his two voyages to China or through a colleague. Robert may have commissioned two sets of counters; this counter is decorated with the crest of lion rampant holding an oval shield, while other counters of the same shape are known with the full coat of arms.[ii]
In addition to the counters, Robert also commissioned at least four porcelain dinner services for himself and his brother decorated with the family’s coat of arms.[iii]
[i] David Howard. Chinese Armorial Porcelain (London: Faber & Faber, 1974), p. 283; David Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain II (Chippenham: Heirloom & Howard Ltd, 2003), p. 182; Julie McKeown. English Ceramics: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Collecting at Rode (London: Philip Wilson Publishing, 2006), pp. 29-46.
[ii] Reeves Collection 2015.39.104
[iii] David Howard. Chinese Armorial Porcelain (London: Faber & Faber, 1974), p. 283; David Howard, Chinese Armorial Porcelain II (Chippenham: Heirloom & Howard Ltd, 2003), p. 182; Julie McKeown. English Ceramics: Two Hundred and Fifty Years of Collecting at Rode (London: Philip Wilson Publishing, 2006), pp. 29-46.
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