Strainer
Label Text
The fine painting and triangle-work inner border on this strainer for a fish or meat platter 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.
Read MoreRead Less
Date1790-1810
Geography
Made -
China
Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste)
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 3/8 in. x 12 1/4 in. x 9 3/8 in. (0.95 cm x 31.12 cm x 23.81 cm)
Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund and partial gift of an anonymous donor, 2004
Object numberW-2786/P
DescriptionOval or oblong strainer with a large central aperture, three concentric rows of pierced holes, and a flat, unglazed foot, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. Centered inside the first row of holes is a right-anchored landscape with a pavilion complex, willow tree, and the fronds of a branch emerging at right. A single-masted ship appears in the river just below center and there is a flat-top bridge in the foreground at bottom. The design is encircled by a triangle-work border, while the rim has an outer border of hatched lines on a blue ground, a wider central diamond and asterisk or starred network band, and an inner “rain and cloud” border of diagonal dashes and a scalloped line. Finely painted.Pattern Name: Canton
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.
