Description:
Chinese export porcelain teacup with handle and saucer (HD 61.008.2) decorated in brown, black, red, and gilding with an eagle with outspread wings holding a banner inscribed "IN GOD WE HOPE" in its beak, and a shield with an anchor in one talon and a trumpet in the other. This eagle design was based one used between February 13, 1802, and June 19, 1805, on the masthead of the "Rhode-Island Republican" published by Oliver Farnsworth in Newport, RI. According to Elisabeth K. Sharpe: "As he reminded readers in every issue of his newspaper, Farnsworth was 'Printer to the STATE, and of the LAWS of the UNITED STATES.' These two positions may have prompted him to commission a masthead engraving that consciously combined Federal and state references: an eagle with outspread wings holds a shield with a foul anchor in one set of talons, a trumpet of fame in the other, and in its beak, a banner emblazoned with 'In God We Hope,' while above its head floats an oval of sixteen stars, indicating the size of the nation at the time the image was engraved. The 'Republican's' version of Rhode Island arms was the source for decoration on a number of Chinese export pieces, but differences among these objects indicate that they were the result of seven separate commissions and were executed by artists who had varying skills." There were many designs purporting to be Rhode Island arms that were advanced officially and unofficially between 1664 and 1882 when the official arms of Rhode Island were adopted. However, all share three basic elements: a foul anchor, shield, and the word, "Hope," used either by itself or in the phrase "In God We Hope" from the Revolution forward. There are examples in the Reeves Center Collection at Washington and Lee University, Winterthur Museum, and the Diplomatic Reception Rooms, United States Department of State; and Howard and Ayers show an eagle that was probably derived from this version on a milk jug at Winterthur.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+61.008.1 |
