A charming Chinese export porcelain reticulated plate from a service made for Theodore and Lydia Lyman of Massachusetts, with a central ermine mantle-and-shield decoration bearing their gilded initials TLL, the rim with a hand-cut reticulated border edged with a floral and foliate rose band of decoration. Born in York, Maine, Theodore (1753-1839) moved to Boston and successfully established himself in the shipping business, expanding his business to the Northwest fur trade and on to China, and prospering to enough to retire and commission Samuel McIntyre of Salem to design and build a grand Federal style country seat outside Boston called The Vale.  The house still stands to this day and is an Historic New England Property.  Examples of this service are in the collections of both the Peabody Essex Museum and Historic New England.  Measuring 7 1/2″ in diameter and in very good condition.  Circa 1786. And with many thanks to Ched and Sandy Cluthe for sharing their usual thorough research.