37/2008-7

Collection

Ceramics

Brief description

Porcelain tea bowl with cobalt blue underglaze decoration of three figures and a pavilion, probably made in Jingdezhen, China, during the Yongzheng period (1723-1735) and recovered from the Ca Mau Wreck in 1998.

Object name

tea bowl

Object number

37/2008-7

Location

On Display

Production date

c.1725 (manufactured)

Production place

China (manufactured)

Period

Georgian (1714-1837)

Material

porcelain
paint
glaze

Technique

thrown
hand painted
glazed

Physical description

Blue and white porcelain tea bowl, wheel thrown and painted in underglaze cobalt blue. It is decorated with a scene in a garden setting depicting the corner of a pavilion and three figures, with the rails of a fence or bridge. The decoration shows a man dressed in military attire walking with a woman, and a man wearing scholarly official robes emerging from behind the pavilion. The decorative band around the inside rim consists of a diaper pattern interspersed with single flowers, and inside the tea bowl is a line, around a central painted mark consisting of three circles or characters. The original shiny, glassy finish of the porcelain has been altered by the cleaning process after the porcelain was recovered from the shipwreck, so the porcelain has a smooth, matt appearance.
The saucer is marked 'cmI.17480', and the underside of the tea bowl was physically marked with its object number on 10/05/2010.

Content description

The tea bowl is decorated with a scene showing three figures near a pavilion; a man in military dress and a woman walking together away from the corner of the pavilion and another male scholarly official figure, peering around the corner of the building. There is a post and decorative railing in the foreground and a large pot, possibly containing a flag, adjacent to the walking couple.

Dimensions

Height: 3.7cm
Diameter: 7.3cm

Website keywords

serving drink
tea, coffee and chocolate drinking

Label

Label text for the exhibition At Home with the World, Geffrye Museum (20 March 2012- 9 September 2012). This tea bowl was displayed alongside a saucer and a teapot:

Teapot, tea bowl and saucer
Porcelain
Probably made in Jingdezhen, China
About 1725

This teapot, tea bowl and saucer were packed into the hold of a ship in Canton (Guangzhou), China in about 1725 as part of a cargo of over 100,000 pieces of porcelain destined for Europe. The ship sank on her way to the trading port Batavia (Jakarta) in Indonesia, and the fragile teawares would wait 300 years at the bottom of the sea before being discovered by fishermen and salvaged.