Unknown
Tureen and Cover with emblem of the society of The Cincinnaticirca 1785 (for the American market)

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 2

Porcelain covered tureen with pale celadon glaze, cobalt blue border decoration, and a polychrome enamel scene of a winged cherub figure on the front panel, with tab handles and a leaf-form finial

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Tureen and Cover with emblem of the society of The Cincinnati
Place Made: China
Date Made: circa 1785 (for the American market)
Medium: Porcelain, overglaze enamels
Dimensions: Tureen: 2 3/16 x 6 1/4 x 5 in. (5.56 x 15.88 x 12.7 cm); Overall: 2 3/4 x 7 5/16 x 4 3/4 in. (6.99 x 18.57 x 12.07 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Catherine C. Hearst
Accession Number: M.80.205.17a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: Direct trade between China and the United States began with the arrival in Guangzhou of the American ship Empress of China in 1784. The Chinese had little use for the products initially sent by American merchants, but Americans eagerly consumed the cargoes of tea, textiles, and porcelain that returned from China. This tureen is a rare product of that first American trading venture. Samuel Shaw, the shipowners’ agent, commissioned it as part of a large dinner service that he hoped to sell at a profit after returning to New York. The side of the tureen is decorated with the winged angel of Fame blowing a trumpet and holding the eagle emblem of the Society of the Cincinnati, named for a virtuous Roman general who retired from a military career to resume life as a farmer, just as George Washington did. The society was founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army who had served under Washington in the Revolutionary War. The eagle emblem was designed by Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French architect who oversaw the original city plan of Washington, D.C. George Washington eventually purchased the dinner service to which this tureen belonged. On subsequent voyages to China, Shaw commissioned tea and coffee services with slightly different decoration for several other members of the Society of the Cincinnati.

Unknown
Tureen and Cover with emblem of the society of The Cincinnaticirca 1785 (for the American market)

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 2

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Tureen and Cover with emblem of the society of The Cincinnati
Place Made: China
Date Made: circa 1785 (for the American market)
Medium: Porcelain, overglaze enamels
Dimensions: Tureen: 2 3/16 x 6 1/4 x 5 in. (5.56 x 15.88 x 12.7 cm); Overall: 2 3/4 x 7 5/16 x 4 3/4 in. (6.99 x 18.57 x 12.07 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Catherine C. Hearst
Accession Number: M.80.205.17a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: Direct trade between China and the United States began with the arrival in Guangzhou of the American ship Empress of China in 1784. The Chinese had little use for the products initially sent by American merchants, but Americans eagerly consumed the cargoes of tea, textiles, and porcelain that returned from China. This tureen is a rare product of that first American trading venture. Samuel Shaw, the shipowners’ agent, commissioned it as part of a large dinner service that he hoped to sell at a profit after returning to New York. The side of the tureen is decorated with the winged angel of Fame blowing a trumpet and holding the eagle emblem of the Society of the Cincinnati, named for a virtuous Roman general who retired from a military career to resume life as a farmer, just as George Washington did. The society was founded in 1783 by officers of the Continental Army who had served under Washington in the Revolutionary War. The eagle emblem was designed by Pierre Charles L’Enfant, the French architect who oversaw the original city plan of Washington, D.C. George Washington eventually purchased the dinner service to which this tureen belonged. On subsequent voyages to China, Shaw commissioned tea and coffee services with slightly different decoration for several other members of the Society of the Cincinnati.