Vegetable Dish

Place Made
China
Date Made
1800-1820
Medium
porcelain
Dimensions
HOA: 4 1/2″; WOA: 9 1/4″; DOA: 8 1/2″
Accession Number
977.10 a-b
Description
DESCRIPTION: One of eleven pieces of porcelain, each piece decorated in reddish brown with a border of an outer rim of diaper designs enclosing four butterflies and flowers between an inner rim of small conventional designs. The center of the pieces are decorated with four clusters of flowers and symbols with a crest at the center, the crest being a shield, with three hawks and a moon, over which stands an Indian bust with bow and arrows on shoulder and feathers in hair, above inscription in scroll at base.
History
HISTORY: These pieces were made to order for the Manigault family and shipped directly to America from China. They are part of a set of nearly 300 pieces. Correspondence with descendants of the Manigault family, who still own parts of the original set with the shield crest, reveal that Charles Izard Manigault (1795-1874) of Charleston was in China from December 15, 1817 to December 19, 1821, and he may have ordered the china at that time. A second set (MESDA Acc. No. 2294.1-3) was ordered later for Gabriel Henry Manigault (1788-1834), the brother of Charles.

FITZHUGH: The name Fitzhugh is commonly given to similar patterns with the butterfly motif on the rim. Fitzhugh was a merchant family in England who traded in Canton starting in 1703 and continuing through the eighteenth century. The name is more frequently used in America than England. Fitzhugh family accounts show a large trade in “Chinaware” and the boxes in which it was shipped were marked “T. FITZHUGH.”

CREST: The crest is that of the Manigault family. The Indian on the crest design is supposed to be an American Indian. The original crest, however, was designed and engraved by an Englishman in Australia, and the figure is really that of an Australian bushman.
RELATED NAME: Manigault

Credit Line
Purchase Fund