Description:
Chinese export porcelain teacup, part of a 30-piece teaset (teapot with cover, teapot stand, sugar bowl with cover, cream pot with cover, pickle or sweetmeat dish, 6 teacups and 6 coffee cups, 12 saucers) decorated in blue, pink, green, and gilding with the initials "H.H." in an oval cartouche topped by a scrolling ribbon on one side, and a 'Fitzhugh' butterfly and diaper border (butterflies, diapers, frets, scales, sprays) around the interior of the lobed rim and a gilt sprig in the well. The name 'Fitzhugh' is thought to be from three generations of the English FitzHugh family who held important roles in the English East India Company as ship's captain, supercargo, company director, and president of the Canton factory, warehouse, and office. Around 1780, Thomas FitzHugh, a member of the Select Committee of the English East India Company, commissioned one of the first services with a 'True Fitzhugh' design based on a circa 1765 pattern. David Howard documents 65 separate armorial services decorated with Fitzhugh borders ordered by various British families during the late 1780s, and a circa 1785 service with the insignia of the Society of the Cincinnati now at Washington and Lee University. In 1808, Josiah Spode II copied the design from the FitzHugh service, but did not apparently use the name. However, 'Fitzhugh' must have been used sometime in the 19th century since it was used in 1927 in an English sales catalogue and by a New York agent of W. T. Copeland & Sons (succeeded Spode Works). Underglaze blue was the most common color, followed by overglaze green, orange-red, brown or sepia, yellow, rose-pink, black, blue enamel, lavender, grey, and gilt; wares made for America had a greater color variation than those made for England. Often services were prepared from standard blanks with prepared borders to which arms or initials were added.
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