56 - A porcelain plate with a heraldic design for the French market (Tarragon), China. Qianlong period (1736–1795), circa 1780. The plate is decorated in “Famille Rose” glazes with garlands of flowers on the rim and the Tarragon family coat of arms on the rim, Gules, a chevron argent, accompanied by three crescents of the same, two and one, the one at the tip surmounted by a gold star (here silver). Dimensions: 22 cm. A few chips and a crack on the reverse.

A porcelain plate with a heraldic design for the French market (Tarragon), China. Qianlong period (1736–1795), circa 1780. The plate is decorated in “Famille Rose” glazes with garlands of flowers on the rim and the Tarragon family coat of arms on the rim, Gules, a chevron argent, accompanied by three crescents of the same, two and one, the one at the tip surmounted by a gold star (here silver). Dimensions: 22 cm. A few chips and a crack on the reverse. Anne-Claude de Tarragon (1754–1793) embarked on a military career at a very young age. After serving in the Navarre Regiment, he joined the Armagnac Regiment in 1777 as second lieutenant, before being promoted to second captain. His career quickly took an overseas turn with France’s involvement in the American War of Independence. At the head of a company of chasseurs, he was sent to America and took part in the French expedition against Savannah in 1779, where he also served as brigade major in Count Arthur Dillon’s division. He then continued operations in the West Indies, a key theater of the Franco-British War. He took part in the campaigns of Tobago, Saint Lucia, and Saint Kitts, where his conduct was noted. He also participated in operations led by the Count de Grasse. During the Battle of Les Saintes on April 12, 1782, he fought aboard the ship Le Jason and was seriously wounded in the leg. His military service earned him the title of Knight of the Royal and Military Order of Saint Louis in 1783. He returned to France after several years of campaigns in America and the West Indies. Arrested in 1793, he was accused of corresponding with Bouillé and La Fayette. He was brought before the Revolutionary Tribunal in Paris and sentenced to death on December 19, 1793. He was guillotined the very next day, at the age of thirty-nine years.