Small lidded sugar bowl (part of a tea set)
China
1800-1850
Measurements
4-1/4 in x 2-1/4 in (dia)
Materials
Gilded and underglaze blue decorated porcelain
Credit Line
Historic Odessa Foundation, anonymous loan
Accession Number
2011.74.2
Provenance
Ex coll. H. Rodney Sharp
Comments
This small, vertically bulbous lidded bowl appears to be the sugar bowl of a tea set, although some students of early porcelains have suggested it is a tea caddy, assuming that the sugar bowl to the tea set was an open bowl now separated. The two other members of the tea set are a teapot, accession no. 2011.74.1, and a lidded creamer, accession no. 2011.74.3.
The sugar bowl is richly and finely decorated in cobalt-blue glaze in characteristic Nanking motifs. They include a prominent pagoda and other buildings, a bridge connecting two islands, waterways that meander through the scene, and Chinese figures on boats. The floral border at the top of the body and around the edge of the lid match borders on the other two members of the tea set. The domed lid has a molded finial. The edge of the lid and the finial have gilded highlights.
