Tea bowl and saucer, 1760-1770
Photo courtesy of Bartram's...
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Photo courtesy of Bartram's Garden

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The oriental export porcelain tea bowl and saucer, potted thinly of fine white clay with virtually no imperfections, with underglaze cobalt blue ornament.

The bowl stands on a very low, straight footrim with a wide diameter; its sides rise from above the rim, and flare sharply at the lip. Around the exterior is painted a stylized garden scene in thin cobalt blue: bamboo, fence, blossoming branch. Thin, pale blue lines border the scene below the lip and above the foot. The interior has a cluster of buds in the central well, a single line marking off the well, and a band of pale blue ornament, about 1/4-inch wide, below the lip.

The saucer is shallow, with a very low footrim, flat central well, and lip that flares outward sharply. The underside of the lip is ornamented with two quickly sketched leaf motifs. The interior of the well is filled with a garden scene within two enclosing lines: a bamboo grove, stylized rockwork, a flowering plum on which is seated a bird. The lip is painted with a pale blue border containing alternating butterfly and insect motifs on a pale blue wash.

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