Soup Plate

This soup plate, owned by Nelly and James Madison Sr., was part of a larger dinner service manufactured in England by Whieldon and Wedgewood. The ceramic earthenware plate, designed to resemble a tortoise-shell, dates to the mid-18th century. The ceramic body is decorated with a lead glaze of brown, olive green, and yellow. It was recovered by archaeologists from the southern detached kitchen and is part of a larger set of ceramics associated with Nelly Madison’s dining activities later in life. Archaeologists have determined that slaves serving Nelly disposed of broken dishes at the south detached kitchen; in a similar pattern, broken dishes from the other dining room were discarded in “Dolley’s Midden,” north of the mansion grounds.