George Washington's Chinaware

English text.; Hardcover (with dust jacket); 23.5 x 28.5 cm.; 1.7 kg.; 244 pages with 161 illustrations, including 55 in colour.; Used with minor signs of wear on the exterior and interior. Minor edge wear and scuffs and scratches on the front cover, spine and back cover. Interior with minor signs of wear.; "Pray let them be neat and fashionable or send none," wrote 26-year-old George Washington in an addendum to his request for "fine oblong china" dishes, plates, and a tureen from an English merchant in 1758. Earlier instructions to his factors in Bristol and London cautioned them to purchase furnishings for Mount Vernon "agreable to the present taste," and to "send things good of their kind." This personal involvement in matters of taste and style was consistent with his position as a member of the colonial English gentry, and continued throughout his life as he sought "White stone" tureens in 1758, "Fashionable China Branches" for candles in 1759; a large "Assortment of ye most fash kind of Queen's Ware" in 1769; "tolerably genteel" tableware for his wartime headquarters in 1779, a "Neat and compleat sett of Blue and White Table China" in 1783; a "sett of the best Nankin Table China With the badge of the Society of the Cincinnati" in 1785, "substantially good and majestically plain" French ornaments for the Presidential table in 1789; and a large service of gilt "Save" (Sevres) porcelain in 1790. Fortunately, hundreds of George and Martha Washington's porcelain and earthenware objects have survived, along with Washington's meticulous accounts and extensive correspondence. Together they illuminate not only the trade, shipping, and commercial practices of the period from 1757 to 1802; they also offer a vivid picture of contemporary table customs and social conventions. One such convention among the Tidewater Virginia planter families of that time is illustrated by Martha Washington's deference to her husbands in the selection of important furnishings for the Custis and Washington mansions. Susan Detweiler and Mount Vernon's curator, Christine Meadows, tell the story of Washington from his early years at Mount Vernon to the presidency and his official residences in New York and Philadelphia. Through informative and often amusing quotes from guests at the Washingtons' table, astute interpretations of some of the puzzling extant documents concerning the chinaware, and a wide- ranging selection of illustrations including portraits of contemporaries such as Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Robert Morris, and Samuel Vaughan, a recipe from Martha Washington's cookbook, newspaper advertisements, invoices, and views of the homes in which the Washingtons lived-unexpected aspects of Washington's personality are revealed in a broad and refreshing account of America's First Family, and of eighteenth-century colonial life as well. Arranged chronologically, the documents constitute a glossary of eighteenth-century terminology and an index to the succession of wares sought by fashion-conscious Americans during the colonial and early national periods. Included in this volume are illustrations of porcelain marks which will be of interest to collectors; a detailed appendix containing all the relevant correspondence and pertinent documentation; and a comprehensive bibliography. The copious illustrations, many in full color, enhance the text and help to trace George Washing- ton's enthusiastic participation in shaping taste and commerce during the early years of American national history.…