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Soup plate

Soup plate
Maker: Angoulême factory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1780-1788
Soup plate
Soup plate
Maker: Angoulême factory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1780-1788
Soup plate Maker: Angoulême factory Porcelain (hard paste), gilt 1780-1788
Status
Not on view
Label Text

As president, George Washington desired tablewares that would strike a stylistic balance between appearing too regal and not being sufficiently dignified enough to impress foreign dignitaries. In March 1790, he purchased a 309-piece service from the departing French minister, the Comte de Moustier. Moustier had acquired most of these porcelains from the royal manufactory at Sèvres in 1778, then added pieces from the Angoulême and Nast factories over the next decade. All are minimally decorated with gilded rims. Such understated elegance matched Washington's preference for neat and plain, while offering his guests fashionable French porcelain with a possible subtle reference to ancient white marble statuary and republican ideals.

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Date1780-1788
Geography Made - France
DimensionsOverall (Diameter of rim): 1 3/4 in. x 9 15/16 in. x 9 15/16 in. (4.45 cm x 25.24 cm x 25.24 cm) Overall (Diameter of foot): 5 5/8 in. x 5 5/8 in. (14.29 cm x 14.29 cm)
Credit LinePurchase, 1956
Object numberW-2011/D
DescriptionCircular molded plate with a scalloped, gilded rim and shallow foot ring. Rim features six large scallops separated by two smaller ones.

One of a group of four soup plates, W-2011/A-D.

Published ReferencesCadou, Carol Borchert, The George Washington Collection" Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hill Press, 2006), p. 148, cat. 42.

Detweiler, Susan Gray, "The Ceramics," Antiques 135, no. 2 (February 1989): 498, 500.

Detweiler, Susan Gray, George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1982), pp. 119-34.

Mount Vernon China (Mount Vernon, VA: MVLA, 1962), pp. 29-34.

William Armstrong, "Some New Washington Relics. I. From the Collection of Mrs. B.W. Kennon," The Century Magazine 40/1 (May 1890): 20.
MarkingsOverglaze factory mark stamped or stenciled on underside (in red): "MANUFRE/ de M.GR le Duc/ d'angoulem[e]/ a Paris".
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.
Soup plate
Maker: Angoulême factory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1780-1788
1780-1788
Soup plate
Maker: Angoulême factory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1780-1788
1780-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (hard paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (soft paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (soft paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (soft paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (soft paste), gilt
1778-1788
1778-1788
Soup plate
Maker: Angoulême factory
Porcelain, gilt
1780-1788
1780-1788
Dinner plate
Maker: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Porcelain (hard-paste), gilt
1772-1788
1778-1788
Dinner plate
Porcelain (hard-paste), gilt
Maker: Sevres Porcelain Manufactory
c. 1778-1788
1778-1788
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