Covered dish

Liner or dish
Porcelain (hard-paste), enamel, gilt
1800-1805

Status

On view

Label Text

Once part of an extensive service that belonged to Philadelphians Joseph and Rebecca Sims, this covered dish features a design that incorporates the Sims’ initials, “JRS,” below a tomb inscribed “WASHINGTON” with an eagle above and a weeping willow behind. Joseph Sims made his fortune as a China trade merchant, but in 1824, he declared bankruptcy and the contents of his well-appointed home were sold at auction. The Sims may have given this lid away as a gift or sold it at the bankruptcy auction.

Read MoreRead Less

Date1800-1805

Geography Made - China

Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste), enamel, gilt

DimensionsOverall: 11 in. x 9 1/2 in. (27.94 cm x 24.13 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Neville Mitchell Smith, 1935

Object numberH-191/A-C

DescriptionA: Baluster-shaped, elongated quatrefoil-shaped dish with indented corners and reeded, double-intertwined handles with berry-and-leaf terminals on opposite ends of the body, and a flat, unglazed foot, decorated in overglaze sepia, iron red, brown, and black enamels and gilt. At the center of each long side is a tomb bearing the inscription “WASHINGTON” on its base with a pyramid supported by nine columns above that is decorated with an urn flanked by palm branches. An eagle clutching a wreath in its talons is perched on top and a weeping willow is planted to the right. Narrow bands of gilded fluting, leaves, and dots and a wide, undulating, intertwined floral ribbon and vine border encircle the rim exterior. Oval reserves or cartouches, containing the gilded script initials “JRS”, interrupt the ribbon and vine border above the tomb decoration.
B: Elongated, quatrefoil-shaped, low-domed lid with slightly indented corners and a strawberry knop, decorated in overglaze sepia, iron red, brown, and black enamels and gilt. At the center of each long side of the lid is a tomb bearing the inscription “WASHINGTON” on its base with a pyramid supported by nine columns above that is decorated with an urn flanked by palm branches. An eagle clutching a wreath in its talons is perched on top and a weeping willow is planted to the right. A gilded brown line encircles the top of the lid, with a wide, undulating, intertwined floral ribbon and vine border at the shoulder, and narrower bands of gilded fluting, leaves, and dots around the rim edge. Oval reserves or cartouches, containing the gilded script initials “JRS”, interrupt the ribbon and vine border below the tomb decoration. The knop and its base are decorated in pale orange and gilt.
C: Elongated, quatrefoil-shaped liner or dish with indented corners, a flat rim, rounded sides, and a flat, unglazed foot, decorated in overglaze sepia, iron red, brown, and black enamels and gilt. The center of the well has a tomb bearing the inscription “WASHINGTON” on its base with a pyramid supported by nine columns above that is decorated with an urn flanked by palm branches. An eagle clutching a wreath in its talons is perched on top and a weeping willow is planted to the right. Narrow bands of gilded fluting, leaves, and dots decorate the flat rim. An undulating, intertwined floral ribbon and vine border encircles the upper edge of the well with a gilded brown line below. An oval reserve or cartouche, containing the gilded script initials “JRS”, interrupt the ribbon and vine border above the tomb decoration on one side of the well.

Published ReferencesRon W. Fuchs II and David S. Howard, Made in China: Export Porcelain From the Leo and Doris Hodroff Collection at Winterthur (Winterthur: The Henry Francis du Pont Museum, Inc., 2005), 100-101, 196. (general reference)

Thomas Litzenburg, Jr. Chinese Export Porcelain in the Reeves Center Collection (London: Third Millenium Publishing Limited, 2003), 265. (general reference)

Jean McClure Mudge, Chinese Export Porcelain For the American Trade, 1785-1835 (Wilmington: University of Delaware Press, 1962), 173. (general reference)

Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.