Description:
Chinese export porcelain plate decorated with flower sprays in the Famille rose palette of pink, purple, green and orange-red, and gilt bands around the outer and inner edges of the broad rim. The bowl is believed to have have belonged to Dr. Thomas Williams (1718-1775) of Deerfield, and was inherited by his descendant, Elizabeth Fuller (1896-1979), daughter of George Spencer Fuller (1863-1911) and Mary Williams (Field) Fuller of Deerfield (1863-1951). One of the most significant groupings of Chinese export porcelains owned in the Connecticut River Valley belonged to the family of Dr. Thomas Williams. Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Williams had strong family connections to western Massachusetts and the town of Deerfield; his father, Colonel Ephraim Williams (1691-1754), was the first cousin of the Reverend John Williams (1664-1729), Deerfield’s famous minister. The Williams family occupied a respected position in western Massachusetts, particularly in areas of spirituality, local governance, and military matters. In 1739, Thomas Williams married Anna Childs (1723-1746) of Deerfield, where he settled and practiced medicine for the next 36 years. After Anna’s death in 1746, Williams married his first cousin, Esther Williams (1726-1800), daughter of the Reverend William Williams of Weston, Massachusetts. Both Thomas Williams' son, William Stoddard Williams (1762-1829), and grandson, Stephen West Williams (1790-1855), followed him into the medical profession. Archaeological fragments and surviving objects document the ceramic choices of this family in the mid-18th century. In 1976, Historic Deerfield discovered a circa 1760 privy pit in the rear of the Williams home filled with American redwares, English slipwares, stonewares, and delftwares, German stonewares, and Chinese export porcelains. Like many other families in the Connecticut River Valley, Williams selected Chinese export porcelain and English white salt-glazed stoneware for his teacups and saucers. This refined example of Chinese porcelain would have been admired by local residents. The plate’s decoration references German porcelains in its use of an interlinking band and small, scattered floral sprays, often called “German flowers.” The back of the plate has a paper label, "Fuller."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+93.006.2 |
