Bidspirit auction | Chinese Export American Market Dish

Chinese Export American Market Dish - Chinese export blue and white porcelain dish, ca. 1850 or later. The center with a large eagle clasping three arrows in his right talons and two leafy vines in his left. Above his head is inscribed, upside down, ”DSERIETC.” Within a lotus and T-pattern border. The underside of a pale celadon. Illustrated in Howard & Ayers, ”China for the West, ” Vol. II, pg. 512, no. 521. Provenance: Sotheby's, New York, ”Important Chinese Export Porcelain and Chinese Works of Art from the Collection of the Late Mildred R. and Rafi Y. Mottahedeh, ” 19 October 2000, Lot 337; The Distinguished Collection of Leo & Doris Hodroff. Exhibition: China Institute in American, 1976, no. 33. Virginia Museum, 1981-2. China Institute in America, 1984. Lot Essay: Likely commissioned as a commemoration of the induction of the state of New Mexico to the United States. This attribution comes from a number of clues. Lot Essay: The central eagle is quite rare, but is similar to the Napoleonic eagle on coins of the period. The Mexican eagle and the Seal of New Mexico show the principal eagle in exactly this stance, holding three arrows in its claws. Additionally, the style of the eagle appears similar to needlework stitches, and could have been copied from a flag or badge. Though the motto is indecipherable, it is a remarkable coincidence that all of these letters appear in the New Mexico motto ”Crescit Eundo.” Diameter: 11 in. Condition: There are no chips, cracks, losses, or restorations. Light surface wear and light wear to the footrim.