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Above and opposite exactly as he had anticipated, for he felt that
47. Punch Bowl. Chinese, ca. 1786-90. Hard paste. Diam. it was "difficultto regard it without smiling."
i6 in. (40.6 cm). Inscribed on the underside:Syngchong. The Cincinnati service, which was part of the
Gift of Lucille S. Pfeffer,1984(I984.449) cargo on the Pallas, was quickly advertised
in the Baltimore newspapers, but only mem-
This extraordinarypunchbowlfeaturesa remarkablyfaithful bers of that elite society would have been
replicaof an engravedcertificated, atedDecemberI785, issuedto ready buyers. Two substantial portions,
EbenezerStevens(1751-I823) bythe Societyof the Cincinnati. totaling more than one hundred individual
Stevenswas a majorgeneralin commandof theNew York examples known today, were purchased in
artilleryand was vicepresidentof theNew Yorkbranchof the 1786 by Colonel Henry ("Light-Horse Harry")
society.Thedecorativesilver-gilt mounton the rim and around Lee and by George Washington.
thefoot wereprobablymadeduringthe earlynineteenthcentury
in responseto an earliercrack-evidence of theextentto which On subsequent trips Shaw commis-
thebowl was valuedby its owner.A relatedbowl,apolychrome sioned more porcelain decorated with the
version,was madefor ColonelRichardVarick(i753-i83I). Varick emblem of the Cincinnati for himself (fig. 46)
waspresidentof theNew Yorkbranchof thesocietywhile Stevens and for friends. The large number of
was vicepresident.AlthoughVaricksmilitarycareerwas tar- Cincinnati services shipped is a good indi-
nishedon accountof his associationwith BenedictArnold,he cation of the influence he wielded. Probably
laterbecameWashington'csonfidentialsecretaryand was mayor persuaded by Shaw, other members, such
ofNew YorkfromI789 to z80o. as Ebenezer Stevens of New York,requested
pieces decorated with motifs or emblems
relating to the society. One of the most
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