This is one of two matching appliqued pillowcases and a bedcover that were made in China in the 1920s. Rev. Alexander Cunningham, a Presbyterian minister in China at the time, sent them to the United States on the birth of his nephew, James Cunningham, in 1926. Both pillowcases are white with a single blue square at each end. On either side of each blue square is a figure of a boy with a ball, a bird, a cat, and a dog; all are made of overlapping blue circles.
Alexander Cunningham was born March 13, 1861, in Murrayville, Illinois. He graduated from Illinois State Normal University in 1887 and McCormick Theological Seminary in 1890. In that same year he married Mary E. Neely, and they left for China to become missionaries. Assigned to the Presbyterian North China Mission, they were active missionaries in China from 1890 to 1933, and after retirement continued to live in China until 1940. After fifty years as missionaries, they returned to California on the eve of World War II. Alexander Cunningham died in Los Angeles, California, on September 20, 1943. This appliquéd pillowcase with the matching bedcover may be the product of a mission where Rev. Alexander Cunningham served.
Chinoiserie and floral repousse chased, raised globular teapot on a double-domed, circular pedestal foot with flared, hinged lid having a downturned, scalloped edge and an Oriental man seated cross-legged with his left hand on left knee and right arm against body for finial. Continuous landscape design around body depicts on one side two men, one wearing a hat and the other standing behind the latticework fence of a pagoda complex, conversing at river's edge with additional pavilions amidst pine and coconut trees at left and on opposite shore and a flower-filled garden urn and sampan at right; opposite side has large pine and coconut trees bending over a bridge to form empty reserve at center. High-loop, C-curve handle composed of overlapping leaves is pinned into ivory insulators with bases of flared leaves. Short S-curve spout covered with acanthus and overlapping ruffled shells; body perforated at spout.
Rounded underside is struck above and below centerpunch "BAILEY & CO." and "PHIL[AD.]" in raised roman letters in rectangles, with "15398" scratched between marks and "#135" scratched upside-down further below.
Part of six-piece coffee and tea service, DL*276317.0001-.0006.
Two-handled, raised globular creamer with overall Chinoiserie and floral repousse chased decoration on a double-domed, circular pedestal foot with flared cover having a downturned, scalloped edge and reclining Oriental man gazing at object in his left hand for finial. Continuous landscape design around body depicts on one side two men in hats, one carrying a lantern on pole, walking towards each other at river's edge amidst five pagodas on both shores, a sampan at left and pine tree in left distance; opposite side has large pine and coconut trees bending over a bridge to form an empty reserve at center. Small, C-curve handles composed of overlapping leaves have bases of flared leaves.
Rounded underside is struck above and below centerpunch "BAILEY & CO." and "PHILADA." in raised roman letters in rectangles, with "#135" scratched below.
Part of six-piece coffee and tea service, DL*276317.0001-.0006.
Bail-handled, raised globular kettle with overall Chinoserie and floral repousse chased decoration on a circular stand having four S-scroll legs topped by crowned bearded man's masks in scallop shells and ending in shell feet that are connected by floral garlands. Flared, swing-up, hinged lid with downturned, scalloped edge features an Oriental man seated cross-legged with his left hand on left knee and right arm against body for finial. Continuous landscape design around body depicts on front a bird in flight above two men, one holding flowers and the other a lantern on pole, walking towards each other at river's edge framed by pavilion complexes and two inclined pines, a lamppost at right and additional juts of land with pagodas and a sampan in distance; back has large pine and coconut trees bending over bridge to form empty reserve at center. Bail handle has a hollow, bow-shaped grip pinned into thin ivory insulators and cast S-curve supports; bow face decorated with a cast cartouche applied at center amidst engraved flowers, while underside has ruffled acanthus. S-curve spout covered with acanthus and overlapping ruffled shells; body perforated at spout. Cast garlands on the stand hide the burner frame which holds a removable, ring-handled, bowl-shaped, double spirit burner with screw top on plain footring; wicks included. Pins on small link chains fastened to the stand fit into three- and five-knuckle hinges on opposite sides of kettle to secure it in place and allow it to tilt.
Underside of kettle and burner both struck above and below centerpunch: "BAILEY & CO." and "PHILAD." in raised roman letters in rectangles; kettle is scratched "233" between those marks, while burner has three additional marks oriented sideways between them (spreadwing eagle clutching laurel leaves and arrows in rounded rectangle above the raised roman letters "U" and "S" in ovals). Faint track marks across burner underside. No marks on stand.
Part of six-piece coffee and tea service, DL*276317.0001-.0006.
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented all but a few Chinese to enter the United States legally. In 1906, a major earthquake and resulting fire in San Francisco destroyed public records, allowing many Chinese to claim that they had been born in San Francisco. These men, with newly established citizenship status, periodically returned to China and claimed citizenship for their children (overwhelmingly boys) who could then immigrate into the United States as citizens. As U.S. officials became aware of this practice, they created extensive “traps” to uncover these “paper sons.” At the Angel Island immigration station (1910-1940) located off the coast of San Francisco, officials detained immigrants for weeks, months, and sometimes years, before admitting or rejecting them.
Elaborate “coaching books” were studied by would-be immigrants in order to tell the same stories put forth by the alleged U.S. citizen who was waiting for his “paper son” on the American shores of Gold Mountain. Questions included minute details of the immigrant’s home and village as well as specific knowledge of their ancestors.
This coaching book was studied by Choi Tsia who arrived on Angel Island in 1938. Approximately 175,000 Chinese immigrants came through Angel Island.