A great Chinese export porcelain 12″ oval platter made for the American market, specifically for a successful citizen of New York City, is finely hand-painted in sepia enamel in the Fitzhugh pattern and centered with a central rondel bearing the initial H.  From a service ordered for John Hone (1764-1832) who, as the son of a German immigrant carpenter, exemplified the American dream, raising a family of sixteen children and rising through New York society in the early 19th century with the fortune from an an auction company he started as well as being the first president of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company and was Mayor of New York during Lafayette’s triumphant return visit to the city in 1825. In addition to the early New York provenance, this is simply a brilliant example of the Fitzhugh pattern.  Illustrated and discussed in New York and the China Trade, p. 116. Very good condition. Circa 1825.