lUustralion 33. — Blue-and-whitc Chinese-porcelain saucer (fii 

 76, lop left). One-h;ilf. 



Illustration 34. — Blue-and-white Chinese-porcelain plate (fig. 

 77, top left). One-fourth. (USNM 60.122.) 



only. They j)ostdatc Joim Mercer by twenty or 

 thirty years. 



Chinese porcel.mn. — Oriental porcelain was intro- 

 duced to the English colonics at a very early date, as 

 we know from 17th-century contexts at Jamestown. 

 As early as 1725 John Mercer acquired "1 China 

 Punch bowl." Presumably the "6 tea cups & 

 Sawcers," '"2 chocolate cups," and "2 custard cups" 

 obtained by him the same year were also porcelain. 

 Even before 1740, porcelain was occurring with in- 

 creasing frequency in America. We arc told that in 

 1734, for example, it can be calculated that about 

 one million pieces of it left Canton for Europe.-"- 

 Doubtless a large proportion was reexported to the 

 colonists. William Walker, Mercer's undertaker for 

 the mansion, left at his death in 1750: "1 Crack'd 

 China bowl," "1 Quart Bowl 6', 1 large D° 12.6," 

 "6 China cups & Sawccrs 5/," and ''12 China 

 plates 15/." 



It is not surprising, therefore, that 18-ceiitury China- 

 trade porcelain sherds occurred with high incidence 

 at Marlborough. Mercer's accounts show that he 

 acquired from Charles Dick in 1745 '-l Sett finest 

 China" and "2 punch bowls." From the archeologi- 

 cal c\'idence it would appear that he had supplemented 

 this sc\eral times over, perhaps after 1750 in the 

 period for which we have no ledgers. 



^"-'J. .\. Lloyd Hyde, Oriental I.owesto]t (New York: C:harle5 

 Scribncr's Sons, 1936), p. 23. 



Most of the porcelain is blue and white. One 

 group has cloudy, blurred houses and trees, impres- 

 sionistic landscapes, and flying birds. This pattern 

 occurs in fragments of teacups, small bowls, and a 

 coffee cup. Another type has a border of diamonds 

 within diamonds, elaborate floral designs delicately 

 drawn, and a fine thin body. Similar sherds were 

 found at Rosewell. At Marlborough the design sur- 

 \ived in teacups, coffee cups, and saucers. There are 

 several additional border designs, some associated 

 with Chinese landscape subjects or human figures 

 (figs. 76, ill. 24, and fig. 77, ill. 25). A coarse type 

 with a crudely designed border hastily filled in 

 with solid blue is represented in a parth' recon- 

 structed plate (USNM 60.122, fig. 77). 



Polychrome porcelain is found in lesser amounts, 

 although in almost as much \ariety. Three sherds of a 

 very large punchbowl arc decorated in red and blue. 

 Fragments of a small bowl have delicate red medal- 

 lions with small red and black human figures in their 

 centers. Fine borders occur in red and black. Gold, 

 yellow, and green floral patterns constitute another 

 class (fig. 75). 



Almost all the porcelain is of high quality, prob- 

 ably reaching a peak during Mercer's middle and 

 prosperous years between 1 740 and 1 760. \Vc 

 cannot expect to find any porcelain purcha.sed after 

 his death in 1 768, and certainly none appears to be 

 connected with the Federal period or with the so- 

 called "Lowestoft" imported in the American China 

 trade after the Revolution. 



144 



