Unknown
Tea Bowl and SaucerQianlong period, circa 1750-1755

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 2

Porcelain teacup and saucer with white glaze, decorated in polychrome enamels with a heraldic coat of arms, horse supporters, floral sprays, and the motto 'FOY POUR DEVOIR'

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Tea Bowl and Saucer
Place Made: China
Date Made: Qianlong period, circa 1750-1755
Medium: Porcelain
Dimensions: Cup: Diameter: 3 1/8 in. (7.94 cm); Saucer: Diameter: 4 5/8 in. (11.75 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Winfield Foundation
Accession Number: 55.36.19a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: This tea bowl and saucer were originally part of a larger tea service made in China specifically for export to England. Whereas the porcelain “blanks” were produced at inland kilns in Jingdezhen, each piece was custom-decorated by enamel painters in the port city of Guangzhou. There, European merchants placed orders during the trading season and assembled cargoes of tea, silk, and other luxury goods such as porcelain for export to British and European markets. These pieces are decorated with the coat of arms of the Seymour family below a ducal coronet as worn by the dukes of Somerset. The family motto, “Foy Pour Devoir” (Faith for Duty), a suitably noble sentiment, appears below in a fluttering pink ribbon. The service was probably commissioned by Edward Seymour, the eighth duke of Somerset, and imported by the East India Company, the powerful global trading firm at the heart of the British empire in South, Southeast, and East Asia. Teacups without handles followed Chinese models but later developed handles more in keeping with Western customs. Now dispersed, pieces from this service are in many different private and museum collections.

Unknown
Tea Bowl and SaucerQianlong period, circa 1750-1755

On view:

Geffen Galleries, floor 2

Artist or Maker: Unknown
Title: Tea Bowl and Saucer
Place Made: China
Date Made: Qianlong period, circa 1750-1755
Medium: Porcelain
Dimensions: Cup: Diameter: 3 1/8 in. (7.94 cm); Saucer: Diameter: 4 5/8 in. (11.75 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of the Winfield Foundation
Accession Number: 55.36.19a-b
Classification: Furnishings
Collecting Area: Decorative Arts and Design
Curatorial Notes: This tea bowl and saucer were originally part of a larger tea service made in China specifically for export to England. Whereas the porcelain “blanks” were produced at inland kilns in Jingdezhen, each piece was custom-decorated by enamel painters in the port city of Guangzhou. There, European merchants placed orders during the trading season and assembled cargoes of tea, silk, and other luxury goods such as porcelain for export to British and European markets. These pieces are decorated with the coat of arms of the Seymour family below a ducal coronet as worn by the dukes of Somerset. The family motto, “Foy Pour Devoir” (Faith for Duty), a suitably noble sentiment, appears below in a fluttering pink ribbon. The service was probably commissioned by Edward Seymour, the eighth duke of Somerset, and imported by the East India Company, the powerful global trading firm at the heart of the British empire in South, Southeast, and East Asia. Teacups without handles followed Chinese models but later developed handles more in keeping with Western customs. Now dispersed, pieces from this service are in many different private and museum collections.