c. 1780-1790 Revolutionary War Era, Oval Deep Brown Decorated Transfer-Printed White Enamel Portrait Medallion titled, "Ld. CORNWALLIS” (1738-1805) Banner Inscription with his Bust Portrait in Military Uniform, Laurel Sprigs, English, Fine.
CHARLES CORNWALLIS (1738-1805), 1st Marquess Cornwallis, served as the Commanding British General in the Southern theatre of the American Revolutionary War. He is most memorably associated in American history with his surrender to General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781. This historically evocative Oval Enamel Portrait Medallion measures 2.75" tall x 2.0" wide overall and is executed in the characteristic deep brown transfer-print on a white enamel ground. This technique was perfected by the Battersea and Birmingham enameling establishments of the period. The portrait depicts Lord Cornwallis in three-quarter bust view facing slightly left, wearing his British military uniform with epaulettes, decorations, and stock visible. His hair powdered and curled in the fashionable military style of the period, showing his expression conveying the calm authority of a senior officer. Below his bust, a decorative scrolled banner bears the abbreviated title inscription "Ld. CORNWALLIS” in clear period lettering, flanked at either side by small sprigs of laurel. The white enamel ground and the black transfer-printed portrait and inscription display with pleasing clarity and contrast. An exceptionally rare period artifact which is not listed in the Arman reference book, although relating to one of the most consequential figures of the American Revolutionary War. This item was produced in England at the very moment of Cornwallis' greatest fame and notoriety. It has nice eye appeal being solid with several thin cracks along the right field to the rim edge with some superficial nicks yet in desirable condition for an object of this delicacy, historic importance and age. Very rare.
CHARLES CORNWALLIS (1738-1805), 1st Marquise Cornwallis, served as the Commanding British General in the Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War and is most memorably associated in American history with his surrender to General George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau at Yorktown, Virginia, on October 19, 1781. This being the decisive military engagement that effectively ended the military conflict with the British and led directly to the peace negotiations culminating in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.

Despite his American defeat, Cornwallis remained a prominent and respected figure in British public life, going on to serve as Governor-General of India, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, and his portrait was widely reproduced in Britain in the years surrounding and following the American war in prints, ceramics, enamelware. The present transfer-printed enamel portrait medallion is a fine and very rare type of the English commemorative enamel trade that flourished in Birmingham and the surrounding Midlands region during the third quarter of the eighteenth century. Development of transfer-printing techniques allowed the production of decorated enamelware at accessible price points for a broad middle-class and export market.