Dish
Label Text
The triangle-work inner border on this dish distinguishes it as an early example of Chinese “Canton” pattern porcelain, which features a willow tree next to a pavilion complex and a flat-topped bridge. It may have been acquired by George or Martha Washington for use at Mount Vernon at the end of the eighteenth century, or by their grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, as he was establishing his own household at nearby Arlington House.
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Date1790-1810
Geography
Made -
China
Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste)
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 13/16 in. x 7 1/2 in. x 5 5/8 in. (2.06 cm x 19.05 cm x 14.29 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, 2005
Object numberW-2786/O
DescriptionLeaf-shaped dish with a plain rim on a flat, unglazed foot, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. Centered in the well is a right-anchored landscape with a pavilion complex, willow tree, and the fronds of a branch emerging at right along the well. A single-masted ship appears in the river just below center and there is a flat-top bridge in the foreground at bottom. A triangle-work band encircles the central design. The interior sides of the dish have an upper diamond and asterisk or starred network band and a lower “rain and cloud” border of diagonal dashes and a scalloped line. Pattern Name: Canton
MarkingsInscribed on the underside of the dish, under the glaze: “II”.
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