Page 44 - Chinese Export Porcelain Art, MET MUSEUM 2003

consumers. It is possible that among Shaw's 46. Punch Bowl. Chinese (American market), ca. 1788. Hard paste.
prized personal treasures, acquired during H. 47/8 in. (12.4 cm). Gift of the grandchildren of Francis George Shaw,
that or a subsequent voyage, was a tower- 1927 (27.144)
ing, carved, and pieced ivory pagoda, the
Samuel Shaw, in whosefamily this bowl descended, ordered numerous sets of
complexity and delicacy of which must
of
porcelain embellished with a large version the badge of the Society of the
have entranced all who saw it (fig. 44). Cincinnati (see back cover). This rendering of the emblem is highly detailed and
Porcelains were a significant part of the suspendedfrom tiny ribbon above theflorid initials SS, for Samuel Shaw.
a
the
Empress of China's cargo. The number of The rest of the bowl has been left mostly undecorated, accentuating pure
whiteness the Shaw ordered sets with decoration identical to
pieces purchased by Shaw was so great that of body. virtually
that his own service butpersonalizedforfellow members of the Massachusetts
of
the second American ship to voyage to
chapter of the newlyformed society.
China, the Pallas, brought the remainder
when she arrived in Baltimore in August
1785. Among the orders Shaw placed in
Canton was one for a service decorated with
an intricate underglaze blue border similar
to that on numerous British armorial ser-
vices. It was distinguished by a central motif

in overglaze enamels and gilding, the Angel
of Fame, holding aloft the ribbon and badge
of the Society of the Cincinnati (fig. 45). The

Chinese interpretation of the motif, though
pleasing to Shaw, may not have been

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