RERAMIC STUDIO 
271 
nail platter, 10% x 814, from the si 
of the Cincinnati," o 
In the coltectio 
THE COLLECTOR 
"ORDER OF THE CINCINNATI" CHINA 
BY courtesy of Mr. Chas. L. Hamilton, of Wm. Perm, Pa., 
we are able to give a reproduction of a small platter 
from this famous set, once the property of Washington. Mr. 
Hamilton writes to us : 
" Some time since I promised you a photograph of small 
platter, one of a set given to Gen. Geo. Washington by officers 
of the French Army about the year 1784, commemorative, as 
I understand it, of the event of their joining the ' Society of 
the Cincinnati.' I purchased it from the estate of the late 
J. Colvin Randall, to whom it was presented by Mrs. Robert 
Colton Davis." 
The platter is ioS/s by 8^ inches, of Canton china, white 
with rather bluish cast ; the oval bottom of the back is rough 
and unglazed. 
The border is quite a dark deep blue ; about J^ inch from 
the edge is a narrow band of gold partially worn away. The 
inner circle of arrow heads is of gold and quite perfect. 
The central decoration represents the insignia of the 
Order of the Cincinnati, consisting of the figure of Fame with 
a gold crown. The trumpet is gold, except at the extreme 
end where there is some shading of brown. Fame wears a 
bright green gown and a glowing scarf of royal purple. Her 
wings are brown with indications of gold. The bow or rib- 
bons from which the eagle is suspended are lavender, and be- 
tween the lavender ribbons and the head of the bird is a short 
bar of gold. The eagle has black head and feathers, and a 
light green wreath around the neck; the wings are gold and 
perfect, the legs and claws also gold. The tail is brown, white 
and gold, and the olive branches in each claw are light green. 
The narrow rim of the medallion is light green and men 
therein are brown with indications of gold." 
on china decorated with the insignia of the "Order 
operty of Gen. George Washington. 
L. Hamilton, Wm. Perm, Pa. 
It will be seen that Mr. Hamilton is among those who 
believe that the set was given to Washington by officers of the 
French army. Opinions on this point are conflicting. The 
Custis family who inherited it believed that it had been given 
by the members of the Order of the Cincinnati, yet the records 
of this Society do not mention the fact. Mr. R. T. Haynes 
Halsey, after careful researches, has come to the conclusion 
that this set was made in China under the direction of Capt. 
Samuel Shaw, a Bostonian, who, with Gen. Knox, had organ- 
ized the Order of the Cincinnati, and was trading agent for 
the owners of the " Empress of China," the first vessel to hail 
from this country directly to Canton, then the only open port 
of China. In his journal Capt. Shaw relates how he wished 
to have the insigna of the Order of the Cincinnati reproduced 
on a set of china, and how his wishes were gratified only in 
part, as the Chinese painters who had charge of the work, and 
who were excellent copyists, were unable to combine the 
figures, separate engravings of which had been given to them, 
with the least propriety. 
This was in 1784 and additional evidence that the set was 
made at that time is the fact that Gen. Knox owned some 
pieces of it with his initials; also that an advertisement in the 
Baltimore American of Aug. 12th, 1785, announces among the 
numerous varieties of china which formed the cargo of the 
"Pallas," just arrived from Canton, "blue and white stone 
china cups and saucers, painted with the arms of the Order of 
the Cincinnati." 
If the manner in which Washington came into possession 
of this set of Canton china is not clearly established, there is 
no doubt that it belonged to him, as it is mentioned in the 
will of Martha Washington, and pieces of it long reposed at 
Mount Vernon and Arlington among the relics collected by 
Washingtons's grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. 
They were inherited by the latter's daughter, Mary Custis, 
