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 C
55
Tea Bowl
Chinese Export Jesuit Porcelain
ca. 1760-1770
Gift of Mrs. Francis White, 1973
This
tiny tea bowl and accompanying saucer have some of the finest
hand painted imagery in the museum's collection. Done in a
monochrome "Grisaille," pattern, one side of the bowl depicts
peasants engaged in heated discussion while the other side reveals at man
with his pants around his knees, relieving himself on a wooden
fence. Each black line is so minutely executed that the image has
the quality of an engraving. In fact, the image on this tea bowl may
have come from an extant  engraving.
Scenes on Jesuit porcelain were often extracted from Biblical
illustrations or mythological texts. This type of porcelain,
exceptionally popular between 1740-1760, was purchased by Jesuit
missionaries visiting China in the 18th century.
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