How many punch-bowls did George Washington own? The great India china bowl with a picture of a frigate; the “rose china” bowl now at Mount Vernon; the fine great bowl now in the National Museum; the china bowl given by him to William Fitzhugh. He gave a beautiful punch-bowl to his friend and aide-de-camp, Colonel Benjamin Eyre; another to Tobias Lear, and another to Mrs. Allen Jones, of Newberne, N. C. And still less can we number the punch-bowls out of which he once drank. We all have one in the possession of some member of our family—I wonder, with all his punch-drinking, that the father of his country was ever sober. [Illustration: Bowl Given to Mrs. Allen Jones.] This beautiful great bowl, eighteen inches in diameter, was given by Washington to Mrs. Allen Jones, and has had sad usage. It was buried in the ground to hide it from Tarleton’s men, and is grievously cracked and broken. It is of richest decoration of red, blue, and gold on an India china ground. It is now owned by the Washington Association of New Jersey. Washington’s India china punch-bowl, which was at Arlington House in 1840, is thus described by Mr. Lossing. “The great porcelain punch-bowl has a deep blue border on the rim spangled with gilt dots. It was made expressly for Washington, but when, where, and by whom is not known. In the bottom is the picture of a frigate and on the side are the initials ‘G. W.’ in gold upon a shield, with ornamental surroundings. It is supposed to have been presented to Washington by the French naval officers.” And the “rose china” bowl at Mount Vernon! That was purchased by the Mount Vernon Association in 1891 from the Lewis estate, for $250—and it is broken too. It is sixteen inches across and five and a half in depth. On the rim, both inside and outside the bowl, is an odd pink and yellow band. Scattered over it are flowers of various colors, in which pink predominates. The beautiful Chinese bowl given to Colonel Benjamin Eyre, the Revolutionary patriot, by Washington, is now in the possession of Colonel Eyre’s great-grandson, Benjamin Eyre Valentine, Esq., of Brooklyn. It is about fifteen inches in diameter and five and a half inches high, of fine Canton china, and bears around the outside of the bowl a scene in a Chinese town, and at regular intervals flaunting flags of all the known nations which were then engaged in maritime pursuits, our new flag—the stars and stripes—being conspicuous among them. This bowl thus possesses an additional historical interest, in that it is the oldest known piece of Chinese porcelain bearing the decoration of the American flag. It is a counterpart in size and shape to the Washington bowl now in the Smithsonian Institution, but the latter is decorated with Chinese landscapes and figures. It came into the possession of the Government through the sale of Washington relics by the Lewis family. [Illustration: Cincinnati Bowl.]