Very large 18th Century platter

Posted on July 1, 2020July 1, 2020

depicting an imperial dragon with flaming pearls. The rare rouge color was made possible by blending ground ruby glass and powdered gold. Particles of both of these elements can be seen distinctly under magnification.No other ceramics from this period have been found to contain these paired ingredients.

Microscopic enhanced image showing the ruby glass and powdered gold

Here is an amazing opportunity to research unique documents online, available throught the efforts of the Pamplin Historical Park.

Pamplin Historical Park and the Museum of the Civil War Soldier is proud to have among our collection of artifacts and images, a large archive of documents dating from the 18th to 20th Centuries – including the famed Wiley Sword Collection which was donated in 2015. Many of those documents are too delicate for display, so to advance our mission of education and preservation we are making digital versions of these invaluable resources available to the public for use and research.