Gaming Counter with the Arms of Lee Quartering Astley

Gaming Counter with the Arms of Lee Quartering Astley

This counter comes from an early eighteenth century set made for Eldred Lancelot Lee and his wife Isabella Gough or one of their two sons, Lancelot Lee or Harvey Lee.[i] It is from the same period as a porcelain set bearing the family's arms. A plate from the set bears the image of the Canton harbor in China making it one of the earliest in a small group of armorial porcelain with this feature.

Eldred Lee (1650-1734) married Isabella Gough (1690-1767) in 1713. Between the time of their marriage and Lee’s death, Isabella bore eleven children. The family was connected to the East India Company by way of Isabella’s family, notably Richard Gough, her uncle, and Henry Gough, her brother. The collection to which this counter belonged was likely commissioned by Richard or Henry for the Lees.

The counter bears the shield of the Lee family, which originated from the Lee family of Coton Hall in Shropshire. It is quartering the shield of Astley, which was introduced by the marriage of a Lee and an unknown heraldic heiress from the Astley family.[ii] The family crest, a squirrel, which sits atop the shield can also be seen in the family portrait commissioned after Eldred’s death in 1736.

The Lee Arms were later adopted by the Lees of Virginia, who may have shared an ancestor with Eldred Lee. The arms and motto of the Lee family are a part of the Washington and Lee University coat of arms created in 1901. The motto, “Ne incautus futuri” (not unmindful of the future), was also adopted by the university.

Museum Purchase with Funds provided by H.F. Lenfest, W. Groke Mickey, and the Frances and Beverly M. DuBose Foundation

1730-1733

Mother-of-Pearl

2015.39.65

Made in Guangzhou (Canton), China

1.25 in