Dinner Plate

Manufacturer unknown

China, made for export, ca. 1750

Porcelain

On long-term loan courtesy of the Bradford-Loockerman family

Sets of Chinese export porcelain plates were remarkably rare luxury items in colonial America, and merchant Vincent Loockerman (1722–1785), whose home was in Dover, Delaware, owned three such sets. This plate is from one of those sets, and the naturalistic floral decoration of this service was highly prized during the Rococo period.