Van Braam cup and saucer, c. 1795

Martha Washington as first lady

In the mid-1790s, Dutch merchant Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest designed a Chinese porcelain service specifically to present as a gift to First Lady Martha Washington. This cup and saucer is one of the few remaining pieces of the service. The cup is emblazoned with Martha’s initials, and both pieces display the linked names of the fifteen states of the Union. A Latin inscription under Martha’s initials translates as, “Our Union is our Glory, and our Defense against Him [i.e. England’s King George III].”  Image courtesy of Mount Vernon Ladies' Association.

1795

eng

W-1497/A&C

china