With over 1,900 pieces including 59 full or partial services, the ceramics collection spans more than three centuries of workmanship from America, England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, China and Japan.

It documents the introduction of Chinese export porcelains to Western audiences, the economic impact of 18th- and 19th-century English potteries, and the growth of the American ceramic industry into the 20th century.

Highlights include a large 1740s Meissen tea service; American art pottery collected by the estate’s third owner, Armistead Peter, Jr., including a decorative flower vase by William Gates and the American Terra Cotta Company in Illinois; and a rare Pearlware miniature dinner service from the 1820s.

The collection also includes more than 100 mid-18th-century decorative porcelain figurines, snuff boxes and scent bottles by European manufactories including Meissen, Höchst, Bow, and Derby. These were collected in the 19th century by Josephine Law May Haines, from whom they passed to Anna Williams Peter, her niece and Armistead Peter Jr.’s, wife.