Hand painted in England,1 1/16"tall

The most famous and recognizable examples of Cincinnati porcelain are from the first pattern produced in late 1784 or early 1785 and purchased by George Washington, the Society’s first president general. These pieces were executed in the fashionable and ubiquitous blue-and-white Fitzhugh border pattern of elaborate and whimsical flowers, butterflies, and other Chinese motifs. Thomas Fitzhugh, an official of the British East India Company, ordered a porcelain service with this border design in 1780, and his name became identified with this border. Porcelain services with the Fitzhugh border were so popular that Chinese artists in Jingdezhen and Canton kept it in stock, ready to be embellished with armorial or other designs when they were commissioned. The central overglaze decoration of the Cincinnati design, however, sets it apart from all others.