A Set of Four Japanese Porcelain Dishes, 17th/Early 18th Century

Each featuring a central motif of a partridge and leafy tree atop rock work

Diameter 8 1/4 inches.

Collection of Margaret Chanler, Charleston, South Carolina.

This lot is located in Philadelphia.

Acquired by Ambassador Irwin Boyle Laughlin (American, 1871-1941)

To his daughter, Gertrude Laughlin Chanler (American, 1914-1999)

By family descent to the present owner.

Ambassador Laughlin, scion of one of the founders of Jones and Laughlin Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was a career diplomat serving as Minister to Greece (1924-1926) and Ambassador to Spain (1929-1933).

Laughlin was also a connoisseur, active in artistic and cultural circles. In 1919, he worked with architect John Russel Pope, known for the National Gallery of Art (West Wing), and the Jefferson Memorial, Washington, D.C., to design Meridian House, Washington, D.C., described as one of the finest examples of French-influenced urban architecture in America.

This elegant edifice was home to Laughlin's fine collection of Asian porcelains as well as French and Italian drawings by 18th-century masters, many of which were gifted to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, California, by his daughter Gertrude Laughlin Chanler.

來源：

Irwin Boyle Laughlin（1871-1941）大使舊藏，傳于其女Gertrude Laughlin Chanler（1914-1999），后家族傳承。

勞林大使（Irwin Boyle Laughlin）出身賓夕法尼亞州匹茲堡，其家族創辦了著名的瓊斯勞林鋼鐵公司，他本人則在外交領域卓有成就，曾任駐希臘公使（1924–1926）及駐西班牙大使（1929–1933）。

外交事業外，勞林亦是著名藏家與鑑賞家。1919年，他與建築師約翰·羅素·波普（John Russel Pope，國家美術館與傑佛遜紀念堂設計師）合作建造華府「子午線官邸」（Meridian House），被譽為美國最精美的法式風格都市建築之一。

官邸中陳設有勞林珍藏的東亞瓷器，以及十八世紀法國與義大利大師繪畫。其後多由女兒葛楚·勞林·錢勒（Gertrude Laughlin Chanler，1900–1973）捐贈予華盛頓國家美術館與洛杉磯蓋蒂博物館。