Description:
Chinese export procelain eight-sided soap dish with domed, octagonal cover with rectagular, rib molded finial, decorated in blue in a pattern commonly known as 'Fitzhugh,' referring to a group of porcelains made principally between 1780 and 1840. The name 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. The enlarging role of Americans in the China trade, and the increased amounts of porcelains they sent home, coincided with the pattern's availability and may account for its ample presence in America. Underglaze blue was the most common color, followed by overglaze green, orange-red, brown or sepia, yellow, rose-pink, black, blue, lavender, grey, and gilt; wares made for America had a greater color variation than those made for England. The main elements of this pattern combine a central medallion surrounded by four quadrants of flowers and emblems. The standard center medallion can feature four qilins, mythical, dragon-like beasts associated with happiness; however, often coats of arms, crests, monograms, or the American eagle replaced the center image for specific orders. Often services were prepared from standard blanks with prepared borders to which arms or initials were added. Emblems embedded in the floral designs are associated with the four accomplishments of Chinese scholars: music (qin), painting (shu), chess (qi), and calligraphy (shui); by the time a man passed his civil service examination, the scholar was said to have the ability to excel in all things associated with the literati, including the arts. Common rim borders used with the Fitzhugh pattern include the 'butterfly and diaper' border (butterflies with spread wings, Grecian keys, diamond diapers, and floral motifs), and a plain cross-hatched or trellis diaper design with posts and spearheads. This lid of this soap dish has four animals (qilin) in reserves, a post and spearhead border, and the dark blue rim with fretwork decoration; the insert has dark blue decoration of scrolls on the rim; there are base reserves on each end, and floral reserves with embedded symbols of the four accomplishments. The dish has a removable octagonal liner insert pierced with holes and a rim to hold the lid, and a depressed area for holding the soap; the octagonal base is deep container with a flat, unglazed bottom. Condition: The base of this piece has been broken and repaired. Object should be conserved.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+2006.18.4 |
