A superb pair of English porcelain plates/dishes painted with the crest and arms of WILLES impaling BREWSTER. Perfect condition, minor wear. Measure approx 9.5 Inches across.
A Chinese service had been made circa 1735 for Lord Chief Justice Sir John Willes (1685-1761).
 
  He married Margaret Brewster and they lived in Astrop Park, Oxfordshire. After the death of his son without an heir, the estate was inherited by the Reverend W.S.WIlles.
 
  He embarked on an ambitious exteinsion of the house. With designs by Sir John Soane, two large wings were constructed in 1805.
 
  It is probably from this period the pair of plates were ordered, to supplement the original service. A design for the "Eating Room" can be seen on the Sir John Soames Museum Website. The wings were raised to double height in the later 19th Century, but demolished in the 20th. 
 
Astrop Park, Kings Sutton, Oxfordshire: alterations and additions for Revd W.S.Willes, 1805 
 Photo: © Sir John Soane’s Museum, London.
http://collections.soane.org/ARC2980