9. "Lafayette" Platter

According to the lore of the Beall-Dawson House, this blue and white English ceramic meat platter, made c.1820, was used when Upton Beall entertained the Marquis de Lafayette on New Year’s Eve in 1824. It was donated by Mrs. William Nicholson, daughter of Priscilla Dawson.

Lafayette, during a triumphal visit to the United States in 1824-25, traveled from Washington to Annapolis events in mid-December 1824. Returning to Washington via Frederick, he would have passed through Rockville where Upton Beall’s brick house, the finest in town, would have been a logical spot to entertain the great hero of the American Revolution. Unfortunately, there is no clear documentation of such an event. With Congress holding a gala New Year’s dinner on January 1, one has to wonder if a Rockville event would have been held on the afternoon or evening of the previous day.

The platter is decorated with underglaze transfer-printing imitating Chinese Export porcelains, showing a scene of traders of game and produce beside an elaborate Chinese house on the bowl with fishing scenes on the rim. It was originally intended as part of a set, but the other piece is missing. A drainer insert is of the period, but not original to the platter. The same “Chinese Traders” pattern can be found on a platter marked by English maker Andrew Stevenson, dated c.1814-1820.

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