Plate

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This Chinese porcelain plate is one of a large group of porcelains owned by George Washington (1732–1799) and Henry Lee (1756–1818). Its underglaze-blue Fitzhugh border—an elaborate pattern of the late eighteenth century incorporating flowers, pomegranates, often butterflies, and other Chinese motifs. The plate is also decorated with the emblem of the Society of the Cincinnati (with a blue and white striped ribbon) held aloft by a somewhat whimsical Angel of Fame. An example of an original Society of the Cincinnati medal, created for officers who had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, is also in the Museum's collection (35.46a, b).

The American Wing

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The American Wing's ever-evolving collection comprises some 20,000 works of art by African American, Euro American, Latin American, and Native American men and women. Ranging from the colonial to early-modern periods, the holdings include painting, sculpture, works on paper, and decorative arts—including furniture, textiles, ceramics, glass, silver, metalwork, jewelry, basketry, quill and bead embroidery—as well as historical interiors and architectural fragments.

Metropolitan Museum of Art