Many objects of art were purchased or given to Commodore Matthew C. Perry during the Expedition to Japan and especially after the negotiations of the Treaty of Peace and Amity between the United States and Japan.  Although many gifts were designated from the Emperor, most historians believe they actually came from the Shogun, who ruled Japan at the time.  Also, although the gifts were given to Perry, they often were designated for particular persons, like the President.  Commodore Perry also personally purchased many items during the Expedition.

One of the personal items Perry brought back from the Expedition was porcelain in the form of bowls, plates, and tea cups with covers.  In March 2025, a cousin of mine, Ms. Louise Perry Russell, and her husband, Mr. Leo Roy, visited me in Bristol, RI, and presented me with a porcelain tea set that was obtained by Commodore Perry during the Expedition.  I was quite elated as I cherish any historic artifacts that belonged to Commodore Perry.

The ownership (provenance) of the porcelain has been recorded over the years, which is straightforward and well documented in writing.  In a typed letter dated September 7, 1910, Mrs. Georgina R. S. Beach outlined how Commodore Perry had been given two sets of porcelain, one which he gave to his wife, Mrs. Jane Slidell Perry, and the second to his younger sister, Mrs. Anna Maria (Perry) Rodgers (1797-1858).  Anna was the wife of Commodore George Washington Rodgers.  The porcelain given to Anna was then inherited by their daughter Elizabeth R. Rodgers (1828-1906), who married Lieutenant Richard H. Smith.  Their daughter was Mrs. Georgiana Smith, the author of the provenance letter, who was next in line to inherit the porcelain.  Georgiana, who was born in 1856, married Mr. Henry Bruce Beach in 1881 and received the porcelain as a wedding present.  The porcelain then was given to a cousin, Mrs. Luena Louise Russell, who passed it on to Mrs. Louise Perry Russell, who gave it to me.

In the letter written by Mrs. Beach she states that the porcelain was always in family possession and was only loaned out once by her mother, Mrs. Elizabeth Rodgers.  She loaned it to her brother, Admiral Christopher Raymond Perry Rodgers, when he was stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.  The time period was after the Civil War, and the porcelain was possibly used on some kind of historic display.  Mrs. Beach recorded that some of the porcelain was broken when it was shipped back to her mother, due to faulty packing.  It is possible that this unfortunate shipping episode might account for the very small chip on the edge of the plate as seen if one looks closely at the pictures of the top and bottom views of the plate below.  Also of interest is that the maker’s mark on the plate is different than the maker’s mark on the cup and bowl.

My friend, Mr. Hirotaka Okutsu, who lives in Odawara, Japan, and is an expert on Commodore Perry, suggested that the design on the porcelain was similar to designs used by a famous Japanese potter, Mr. Sakaida Kakiemon (1596-1666).  Kakiemon-san, whose name comes from his use of persimmon (kaki) in his porcelain, was the first person to develop the secret of decorating porcelain with enamel.  Kakiemon used beautiful flowers, but also birds to decorate the porcelain.  However, Okutsu-san also doubted the porcelain came from Japan and thought it was most like porcelain made and obtained in China.

Although the descendants of Commodore Perry have indicated in oral history and written documentation about the ownership of the porcelain, there is no official documentation of how Commodore Perry obtained the porcelain.  When the treaty was signed in 1854 and all diplomatic activities ended, the official Japanese gifts were carefully boxed and stored on the cargo ship, USS Supply.  This ship was sent to the Navy Department in Washington and gifts were initially assigned to the U.S. Patent Office.  The Smithsonian Institution (SI) was not created until 1888, and the gifts were transferred to various agencies that predated the Smithsonian.

I can find no mention of porcelain gifts given to Commodore Perry in his Narrative by Rev. Francis Hawks or in the official Narrative summary by Mr. Roger Pineau.  The well documented SI account by Mr. Chang-su Houchins of artifacts given to the United States does not show any porcelain given to Commodore Perry.  The report does list five boxes of porcelain cups given to the “Government of the United States.”  The official gifts given to Commodore Perry from the Emperor of Japan appear to be very modest (and unexplainable) and include a lacquered writing box and writing apparatus, pieces of pongee (silk fabric), and pieces of flowered crape (paper).

It seems likely that Commodore Perry received many more gifts of higher value that were not recorded as such, due to long term federal regulations prohibiting acceptance of personal gifts from foreign countries by government employees.  The SI report shows images of seven different porcelain items, but none of them resemble the items described above or mention the Emperor of Japan as donor or Commodore Perry as the donee.

Because of the uncertainty of whether the porcelain was a gift to Commodore Perry or if he had purchased the porcelain himself, I contacted my friend, Ms. Hiroko Todoroki, in hopes of getting clarification from Japanese porcelain experts.  Information that was quickly received from experts, revealed that the porcelain was not made by Kakiemon or even made in Japan, but was made in China and most likely purchased by Commodore Perry as gifts for his family.  There were four flowers on the porcelain that were identified as lotus, chrysanthemum, peony. and plum.  The center design of the saucer was identified as peach and a bat, which represents good fortune in Asian culture.  The bottom mark was written in the broken Chinese letters, so it was difficult to designate the correct era, but appeared to be most likely that the porcelain was made between 1820 and 1850.

After getting the information about the porcelain from Ms. Todoroki, I received pictures of two additional bowls (without covers) that were part of the original gift that Mrs. Luena Louise Russell had given to Mrs. Louise Perry Russell but were not given to me.  These bowls may have been originally given to Commodore Perry’ sister, Anna.  Both bowls had cracks that have been repaired using the Japanese Kintsugi method of repair.  Also of interest was that these bowls had no Chinese characters on them.  The cracks in the porcelain might have been the result of the faulty shipment described above.  Family lore spoke of Commodore Perry having brought back two tea sets for family members, so these bowls may well be from the other set.

The role of gifting during foreign diplomatic relations was an important aspect of Commodore Perry’s success in Japan and the signing of the Treaty of Peace and Amity in 1854.  Although these porcelain tea sets described above probably represent purchases by Perry and not gifts to him, they do represent interesting and valuable artifacts of the Expedition to Japan.  More details need to be explored and studied about the gifts between our countries to better understand gifting as one of the great models in American diplomatic negotiations.