Covered dish

Dateca. 1820

MediumPorcelain, hard-paste

DimensionsOH: 6 1/2"

Credit LineGift of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Boys

Object number2010-133,2A&B

DescriptionChinese porcelain covered vegetable dish from a service made for Philadelphian Benjamin Chew Wilcocks. The border on the lid of the dish is approximately one inch wide and contains a stylized leaf and scroll decoration on a peach band. The armorial crest of a demi-lion rampant emerging from a mural coronet is contained within an additional peach band ornamented with sepia and dark brown stylized leaves and scrolls. Each side of the dish is further decorated with a sepia toned floral spray.
Label TextBenjamin Chew Wilcocks (1776–1845), the American Consul at Guangzhou, had a home in Macao between 1800 and 1829. He started as a supercargo with George Howell on the Delaware which arrived in Philadelphia on April 10, 1799. In 1803, he again served as a supercargo on the Pennsylvania. In late 1811, he returned to Guangzhou as a resident commission agent. On January 19, 1813, he was commissioned United States Consul at Guangzhou. Wilcocks continued to carry on his mercantile business, including the sale of opium to the Chinese. Although his services as consul ended in 1822, he remained in Guangzhou as a merchant until 1827. This dish is part of a service made for Wilcocks while he served as American Consul.
ProvenanceMade for Benjamin Chew Wilcocks while he was serving as American Consul in Canton from 1814 until 1821. Wilcocks was a prominent Philadelphia merchant.

Previously owned by Jack and Laura Boys of Newburyport, MA

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