Notes
This coffeepot is part of a porcelain tea set that belonged to Margaret Ann Henry Miller (1827–1881). Margaret Ann Henry was born at Red Hill, the oldest child of John (1796–1868) and Elvira McClelland Henry (1808–1875), and a granddaughter of Patrick Henry through her father’s side. She married William Alexander Miller (1824–1923) in 1849 and the couple moved to Lynchburg, where they lived for the rest of their lives. Mr. Miller purchased this china for his wife sometime after their marriage.
Excepting the seven replacement tea plates, the original porcelain pieces bear variations of the mark "GD." The mark may signify manufacture by Delinières & Guery, a late-19th-century porcelain company that operated in Limoges, France. In 1863, Pierre Guery opened a new porcelain factory on Rue Albert Thomas and was joined in business by his brother-in-law Rémi Delinières in 1869. The business operated under Guery’s and Delinières’ names until Guery died in 1878, after which it was known as Delinières & Co. Léonard Bernardaud bought the porcelain company in 1900. It still bears the Bernardaud name today.
The china set remained in the Miller family, passing down to Margaret Penick Nuttle (1913–2009), the great-granddaughter of Margaret Ann Henry Miller and third-great granddaughter of Patrick Henry. Mrs. Nuttle descended from the Henry line through her mother, Margaret Dabney Penick (1879–1962), whose mother Florence Miller Dabney (1853–1923) was the daughter of Margaret Henry Miller. In October 2000, Mrs. Nuttle donated the china to the Patrick Henry Memorial Foundation.