Cherub with cornucopia
The smooth surfaces of unglazed biscuit porcelain mimic the purity of classical sculpture and made it a fashionable choice for table ornaments in the second half of the eighteenth century. When set atop glittering, mirrored plateaux amid flowers and candelabra, such figures created a fantastic, mythical tableau. George Washington may have purchased this figure during the last weeks of his presidency for use in the "New Room" at Mount Vernon. Enjoying grapes from an overflowing cornucopia, the cherub alludes to the Bacchanalian pleasures of the table.
Published ReferencesSusan Gray Detweiler, George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1982), 117 - 118.
Agnes Peter Mott, Peter Collection (Copy of a List Loaned by Miss Agnes Peter, May 1937) [PFL], bound photocopy, Curatorial File Room, no. 4.
Britannia Wellington Peter Kennon, Mrs. Kennon's Notebook [1899].
William Armstrong, "Some New Washington Relics. I. From the Collection of Mrs. B.W. Kennon," The Century Magazine 40/1 (May 1890): 21.