Society of the Cincinnati soup plate
As the Revolutionary War drew to a close, French and American officers formed the Society of the Cincinnati in the name of mutual support and friendship. The fraternity's name was inspired by the 5th-century B.C.E. Roman Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, who left his plow to defend Rome in battle, afterwards returning to his farm. George Washington, who resumed a private life at Mount Vernon after the war, was the Society's first President General. Washington perhaps sought to perpetuate his image as the modern-day Cincinnatus when he purchased an extensive Chinese export porcelain service decorated with a simplified version of the society's insignia - a gold eagle badge bearing an oval medallion containing a depiction of Cincinnatus receiving his sword from the Roman Senators. The majority of items in this unique set feature the trumpeting figure of Fame holding aloft the insignia.
See also soup plates, W-483 and W-519; round dinner plates, W-1436/B, W-1436/G, W-1436/I, W-1436/ J, and W-1436/K; platter, W-1436/D; tea bowl, W-1436/A; tea caddy, W-3024/A; custard cups with lids, W-1436/C.1-2 and W-1436/F.1-2; custard cup lid, W-3045; tureen stand, W-4069; teapot and lid, W-1436/E.1-2; sauce tureen and lid, W-1436/H.1-2; and sauce tureen stand, W-4522.
Published ReferencesSusan Gray Detweiler, American Presidential China: The Robert L. McNeil, Jr. Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Museum of Art; New Haven, CT: In association with Yale University Press, 2008), 24-25. (general reference)
Carol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 108-109, 282-283. (general reference)
Susan Gray Detweiler, George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1982), 83-97, 191-192, 208-211. (general reference)
Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Mount Vernon China (Mount Vernon, VA: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, 1962), 17-21. (general reference)
The Editor's Attic, "George Washington's Cincinnati Porcelain," Magazine Antiques 35/ 1 (May 1937): 233, 234. (general reference)
Centennial Celebration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States. Committee on Art and Exhibition, Catalogue of the Loan Collection of Portraits, Relics, and Silverware Exhibited at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York, April 17th to May 8th, 1889 (New York: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company, 1889), # 448, 100.
