A handsome bombe form Chinese export porcelain teapot hand-decorated with an image of an American eagle clutching a group of arrows, a halo of seventeen gilded stars about his head and surmounted by the original owners’ monogram JMC, the cover and shoulder of the pot decorated with a classical gilded grapevine border. The service was owned by John and Margaret Christian of Reading, in Berks county, Pennsylvania, John (1786-1869) having emigrated to Philadelphia in 1808.  The pot after silver forms of the period and in good condition with only a small X-form crack to the base barely visible, minor wear to the gilding, and the inside of the collar with small restoration to the edge where the cover rests – not visible when the cover is in place.  Measuring 10″ x 6″, the eagle certainly one of the more unique versions the the Great Seal of the United States used upon export wares for the American market at this time.  Circa 1810-1820.