A 'GOING TO SCHOOL' CHINESE EXPORT FAMILLE ROSE MINIATURE CREAMER
Jiaqing, circa 1810-1815
The elegantly potted five-lobed pitcher decorated in fencai enamels depicting two European children carrying a book and basket leaving the house, their mother watching them from the door, the initials 'EC' above the scene, the pitcher fitted by a small spout and u-shaped handle, the cover decorated with a blue border band under a gilt peach finial.
4 1/8in (10.5cm) high, overall
Footnotes:
清嘉慶 大約1810-1815年 小件粉彩人物故事圖外銷瓷執壺

The Initials 'EC' are probably those of Eliza Caldwell (1807-1885), who befriended President Abraham Lincoln after her marriage to Orville H. Browning in 1836.

Biography:China for the West by D.S. Howard and J. Ayers, London and New York, 1978, p. 91
La Porcelaine des Compagnies des Indes a Decor Occidental, by F. & N. Hervouet and Y.Bruneau, p. 92
A Winterthur Guide to Chinese Export Porcelain by A.M. Palmer, New York, 1976, p. 9' for a similar child's tea set decorated with children play, noting 'a closely related set was brought to Philadelphia from China by Henry Hollingsworth around 1800'