Sugar bowl and lid
Label Text
After the Revolutionary War, George Washington, the Marquis de Lafayette, and their families exchanged numerous gifts and tokens of affection, perpetuating the warm friendship forged by the General and his “adopted son,” as Lafayette styled himself. According to family tradition, Lafayette gave this tea set, of which a teapot, sugar bowl, and saucer survive, to Martha Washington’s granddaughter, Eliza Parke Custis Law.
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Date1760
Maker
Sèvres porcelain factory
(French, 1756 - present)
Decorator
Vincent Taillandier
(French, active 1753 - 1790)
Geography
Made -
France
Medium/TechniquePorcelain (soft-paste), enamel, gilt
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 4 1/16 in. x 3 3/16 in. x 3 3/16 in. (10.32 cm x 8.1 cm x 8.1 cm)
Credit LineGift of Mary Hobart and John Gibbons, 1985
Object numberH-3011/B1-B2
DescriptionB1:Sugar bowl with rounded sides that taper inward at the base on a shallow foot ring, decorated in overglaze polychrome enamels and gilt. The exterior body of the sugar bowl is covered with rows of alternating pink and blue flowers. A gilded, double-intertwined leafy vine atop a blue enamel line encircles the top and base of the body. The exterior rim is decorated with a gilded (dent-de-loup) border. A single gilded in encircles the exterior of the foot ring.
B2:
Low-domed, circular lid with a cherry and leaf knop on a shallow foot ring, decorated in overglaze polychrome enamels and gilt. The shoulders of the lid are covered with rows of alternating pink and blue flowers. A gilded, double-intertwined leafy vine atop a blue enamel line encircles the top of the lid and the base of the shoulder. The edge of the rim is decorated with a gilded (dent-de-loup) border.
Published ReferencesChristine H.Messing, John B. Rudder, and Dian Windham Shaw. A Son and His Adoptive Father: The Marquis de Lafayette and George Washington (Mount Vernon, VA: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 2006), 44, 47, 72.
MarkingsOverglaze mark painted on underside of teapot (in blue): factory mark or cipher of intertwined Ls enclosing an “H” with a dot and a fleur-de-lys below, all slightly smudged. The fleur-de-lys may be the mark of the painter Vincent Taillandier.
Underglaze incised mark below the factory mark near the foot ring: script letters "lg" (unidentified potter’s mark).
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