Notes:
Notes: Burghley House, built between 1555 and 1587 for William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley (1520–1598), served as the residence of Queen Elizabeth I’s (r. 1558–1603) chief advisor. Cecil held the position of Secretary of State twice (1550–1553 and 1558–1572) and became Lord High Treasurer in 1572. The house itself is a celebrated example of Tudor architecture and is home to an esteemed art collection, particularly notable for its Chinese and Japanese export porcelains, as well as European and English ceramics. Depictions of Burghley House also feature on English delftware, showcasing compositions inspired by Chinese designs but typically without birds or ornamental borders. The source of these designs is believed to be a print by Johannes Kip (1653–1722) in Nouveau Théater de la Grande Bretagne (1715), based on a drawing by Leonard Knyff (1650–1722). A nearly identical blue and white dish depicting Burghley House, circa 1745, was sold at Sotheby's, London, 19 May 2021, lot 272. See also two blue and white oval platters, circa 1740, decorated with an identical design as the present lot, in the collection of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem (inv. no. E81797) illustrated by W.Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics From the Peabody Essex Museum, New Haven, 2012, p.139, cat.no.47.
Though this imposing facade could represent a number of great 17th century houses, it has always been thought to be Burghley, both because of an English Delft prototype and because of the finely painted grisaille Chinese export porcelain punchbowl depicting the house and still in the collection there. See D.S. Howard, The Choice of the Private Trader, p. 87
