Sauceboat
Label Text
The triangle-work inner border on this sauceboat distinguishes it as an early example of Chinese “Canton” pattern porcelain, which features a willow tree next to a pavilion complex and a flat-topped bridge. It may have been acquired by George or Martha Washington for use at Mount Vernon at the end of the eighteenth century, or by their grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, as he was establishing his own household at nearby Arlington House.
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Date1790-1810
Geography
Made -
China
Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste)
DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 2 5/8 in. x 7 5/8 in. x 3 13/16 in. (6.67 cm x 19.37 cm x 9.68 cm)
Credit LinePurchased by the A. Alfred Taubman Acquisition Endowment Fund and partial gift of an anonymous donor, 2004
Object numberW-2786/C
DescriptionSauceboat with a scalloped rim and body and an ear-shaped handle on a shallow raised foot, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue. In the center of the well is a right-anchored landscape with a pavilion complex, willow tree, and the fronds of a branch emerging at right along the side. A single-masted ship appears in the river at center and there is a flat-top bridge in the foreground at bottom. The top of the interior features a triangle-work band and the top of the exterior has a starred network band above a “rain and cloud” border of diagonal dashes and a scalloped line. The handle is decorated with blue squiggles or zigzags; two blue artemisia leaves frame the handle where its lower end joins the body. A single blue line outlines the top of the foot.Pattern Name: Canton
MarkingsInscribed on the underside of the sauceboat, under the glaze: “III”.
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