Description:
Chinese export porcelain dinner service with 22 pieces, decorated in blue in the "Canton" pattern, which was first produced in the late 18th century and was the most popular pattern in Chinese export porcelain for the American market. According to Williams family tradition, this set was originally owned by Dr. Joseph Warren (1741-1775), who fought at the Battle of Breed's (Bunker) Hill where he gained fame as the first martyr of the American Revolution. According to that same tradition, the set passed to Warren's daughter, Mary Warren (1771-1826) who married Judge Richard Newcomb (1770-1849) of Greenfield, Massachusetts. However, this story may be apocryphal; Mary Warren and her three siblings were left orphans after the deaths of both their mother, Elizabeth Hooten Warren (1746-1773), and their father who had married in Boston in 1764, and “a name made illustrious was their only inheritance.” Mary married her first husband, Captain Samuel Lyman (1765-1802), in 1799, and Richard Newcombe in 1803; this Canton porcelain service was more likely a gift for one of her weddings. After Mary's death, Newcomb sold the set to Asa Stebbins (1767-1844) and Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams (1761-1838) of Deerfield who was a distant cousin of Warren's through his grandmother, Deborah Williams Warren (1668-1743), the daughter of Samuel Williams (1633-1698) and sister of Samuel Williams (1656-1735) who was Ebenezer Hinsdale Williams' great grandfather. Williams and Stebbins divided the set between them; the original service may have numbered 150 to 170 pieces, allowing for breakage. The division of a porcelain dinner set between families is intriguing and not often encountered. Williams and Stebbins were two of Deerfield’s most prominent, wealthy, and fashionable residents; both could have easily afforded a dinner set of their own, so why did they divide one? A complete dinner service might have seemed too large or overly pretentious for their needs, or perhaps this set with its reputed association with a famous American Revolutionary War hero was in particular demand. In either case, owning pieces from this service may have enhanced their reputations in the community. In Williams' 1838 probate inventory, these dishes probably form part of what is described as "70 pieces making part of a China Dining Sett...$10.00" in the Williams dining room where much of the set may still be seen. These pieces descended through Ebenezer's wife, Anna Smith Williams, 1770-1852) who bequeathed "one half of my Stone China Table Set" to her sister Fanny (Smith) Watriss and the other half to "Mrs. Catherine Allen, daughter of Henry Bardwell deceased." Mrs. Catherine Elizabeth Bardwell Allen, the only child of Anna's sister, Rhoda (d.1818) and Henry Bardwell (1767-1827), married Caleb Allen Jr. (1809-1862); she gave many things to PVMA including pieces from this set. Though it is possible that there have been later replacements, the platters, large and small tureen, and open salts are distinctive. The central decoration of the Canton pattern, which is also known as the "willow," "island," or "island-and-bridge" design, is defined by an aquatic landscape, featuring a river, three-arch bridge, islands, willow and pine trees, rocks, boats, clouds, and a figure in a teahouse; the border usually has slashed scalloping, known to collectors as a "rain and cloud" border. There are many variations using boats, buildings, people, etc.; the borders also vary considerably. The pattern's lack of complexity meant that enamelers could complete the design quickly, making it inexpensive in comparison to the Nanking and Fitzhugh patterns. From the beginning, Canton has been produced in various qualities from finely rendered to pitted, coarse, and sloppily decorated, and in different shades of blue. For such commonplace and popular ware, dating pieces of Canton without a family history is notoriously difficult.
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https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+82.021 |
