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Punch bowl

Professional Photography
Punch bowl
Professional Photography
Professional Photography
Status
On view
Label Text

Wealthy Virginians were known to celebrate special occasions with punch, a festive drink made from a mixture of spirits, lemon or lime juice, sugar, nutmeg, and other spices. Its presentation was enhanced by the often eye-catching punch bowls from which it was served. This punch bowl was likely brought to Mount Vernon by Martha Washington from her first marriage. With its delicate design, exquisitely executed in vibrant over glaze enamels of the famille rose palette, it is the oldest and perhaps the finest piece of Chinese export porcelain known to have been owned by the Washingtons.

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Date1735-1757
Geography Made - China
DimensionsOverall: 6 3/8 in. x 15 5/8 in. x 15 5/8 in. (16.21 cm x 39.7 cm x 39.69 cm) Other (base diameter): 19.69 cm x 19.69 cm (7 3/4 in. x 7 3/4 in.)
Credit LinePurchase, 1956
Object numberW-2100
DescriptionCircular porcelain bowl decorated with famille rose overglaze enamels on a high foot rim. The center of the well is decorated with peonies and chrysanthemums arranged in a Chinese porcelain lantern (or vase) with handle. The inner rim frieze of alternating pink and blue bands of trellis ground patterns with scroll-frame reserves echoes the larger outer rim frieze of flowers, Chinese "cloud" motifs and a ground pattern of interlocking crosses and curls within a large scroll-frame. Beneath the outer rim frieze is a complex pattern of pheasants and other birds amidst chrysanthemums and peonies.
Published ReferencesCarol Borchert Cadou, The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), 54-55.

Susan Detweiler, George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1982), pl. 13-14, 28-29, 34, 189.

Mount Vernon Ladies' Association, Mount Vernon's China (Mount Vernon, Virginia: The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union, 1962), 51-53.

George Freeland Peter, Jr., Memorabilia List: Agreement for Purchase and Sale of Personal Property, 1956, No. 2.
Mount Vernon's object research is ongoing and information about this object is subject to change. For information on image use and reproductions, click here.
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