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Tea Bowl and Saucer
Tea Bowl and Saucer

Tea Bowl and Saucer

Maker (English, July 1818-1846)
Date1818-1846
MediumMechanically-molded ironstone with an underglaze cobalt blue decoration
DimensionsComponent (height x diameter of tea bowl): 2 1/2 x 3 11/16in. (6.4 x 9.4cm)
Component (height x diameter of saucer): 1 1/8 x 5 3/4in. (2.9 x 14.6cm)
ClassificationsCeramics
Credit LineBequest of George Dudley Seymour
DescriptionRound, ironstone tea bowl (.a) and saucer (.b) with a transfer-printed pattern in dark underglaze cobalt blue. The glaze is tinted blue. The pattern shows a man in a dark blue jacket seated at the base of a tree to the right; he has an open book in his left hand. He is gazing to the left, at a memorial that has an urn sitting on top of a pedestal with the name "FRANKLIN" written on the front. The urn sits in a grove of flowering trees. In the middle and right background, a circular columned building sits on an island, with a sailing ship to the right. The rays of the setting sun fill the sky behind the building. These elements are surrounded by a number of trees and flowers, then a narrow scalloped border at the rim of both the cup and saucer.

The transfer pattern is printed twice on the outside of the tea bowl. The tea bowl has an additional border inside the rim of lighter blue flowers on a dark blue field. The bottom half of the insides of the tea bowl are left plain. The scene of the circular columned building framed by the setting sun is printed on the bottom inside. There is one small chip on the foot of the tea bowl.
Object number1945.1.1491a-b
NotesSubject Note: Although there is no evidence who the seated figure represents, some believe that this popular scene shows the Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834) mourning his departed friend, Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). (Hunt 9/13/2004)
On View
Not on view
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