.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Chinese Export porcelain for the American market was decidedly patriotic, often adorned with symbols of the newly independent United States of America including the American eagle. During the late 18th century and into the first quarter 19th century various renditions of the eagle based off the Great Seal of the United States came about. Most depicted the eagle as the sole support for a spade-form shield with laurels and arrows clenched in its talons, symbolic of a powerful country both in times of war and peace.
However, the Chinese artists using small coins cast with the Seal as a blueprint for the painters in the porcelain workshops missed certain symbolic nuances, such as in this pair of beakers, where the eagle has the arrows in its right talon instead of on its left as in the original design by Charles Thomas in 1782.
For another depiction of the American eagle in Chinese Export porcelain see lots 145-147 in this sale.
However, the Chinese artists using small coins cast with the Seal as a blueprint for the painters in the porcelain workshops missed certain symbolic nuances, such as in this pair of beakers, where the eagle has the arrows in its right talon instead of on its left as in the original design by Charles Thomas in 1782.
For another depiction of the American eagle in Chinese Export porcelain see lots 145-147 in this sale.