Counter with the Crest of Lee

Counter with the Crest of Lee

This counter comes from a set made for Eldred Lancelot Lee and his wife Isabella Gough or one of their two sons, Lancelot Lee or Harvey Lee.i This collection includes another counter from the Lee family, but it is unclear if they are from the same set. The Lee family hailed from Cotton Hall in Shropshire, and had connections with the East India Trading Company by way of Isabella Gough (1690-1767), who married into the family in 1713 to Eldred Lee (1650-1734). They had eleven children who can be seen in the family portrait along with their family crest and the image of their deceased father. The Lee family of Virginia adopted the coat of arms from the Lees of Cotton Hall. It is unclear whether or not a legitimate family line exists, but the England’s College of Arms had little influence in the United States. It was not uncommon for families to assume the coats of English families who bore the same name. A notable member of the Virginian Lee family was Robert E. Lee. Lee served as a Civil War General for the Confederate States of America, and later became the President of Washington College. Following his death in 1670 the college was renamed Washington and Lee University to honor his contributions to the institution. Portions of the Lee arms were used for creation the arms of Washington and Lee University in 1901. The squirrel was not included in the arms, but the family motto was. The family motto “not unmindful of the future” is represented by the squirrel, which stores nuts in anticipation of the winter.

i William Sargent, Treasures of Chinese Export Ceramics. Salem, Massachusetts: Peabody Essex
Museum, 2012, P.365

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

2015.29.12

Guangzhou (Canton), China

2.36 in