Lid part of a Chinese export Porcelain dinner service, made during the Quianlong Period

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Lid part of a Chinese export Porcelain dinner service, made during the Quianlong Period

Datec 1799

Object number00015440

NameTureen cover

MediumEnamel, gilt, porcelain

DimensionsOverall: 77 x 154 mm, 0.2 kg

ClassificationsTableware and furnishings

Credit LineANMM Collection Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds

Terms

China

DescriptionThis tureen cover is part of a Chinese export porcelain dinner service that was manufactured in Canton, China. It is decorated with floral sprays and a medallion with stars. During the 19th century China was active in the production of porcelain, silver and pertar ware. Many western homes owned items that were manufactured in China for buyers in Europe, America and Australia.HistoryThis dinner service set which was made for the Dale Family of Philadelphia, and commissioned by Richard Dale, First Mate on the ALLIANCE. The USS ALLIANCE was a frigate which fought in the American War of Independence. It was built by the shipbuilders William and John Hackett of Massachusetts in 1777 and launched in 1778. During the War, it fought and claimed a number of British ships as prizes until 1783. It was sold and turned into a merchant ship in 1785 for sailing to the Orient. Her new Commander, Thomas Read, undertook the voyage to China by a new route through the Dutch East Indies and the Solomon Islands. It was in December 1787 that the ALLIANCE, with Richard Dale on board, is thought to have seen Australia, a few weeks before the First Fleet. SignificanceRichard Dale and the crew of the ALLIANCE were the first Americans to sight Australia, having passed by on their pioneering voyage to China. The development of the China trade was integral to the development of trade between the new Australian colonies and the United States.