Punch bowl

Status

On view

Label Text

Eye-catching bowls enhanced the presentation of the punch, a potent beverage commonly made from a blend of spirits, lemon or lime juice, sugar, nutmeg, and other spices. This punch bowl has an undocumented history of ownership by Charles Carroll of Carrollton, Maryland, best known as the longest-living signer of the Declaration of Independence. A punch bowl decorated with a similar design, known today as the “Tobacco Leaf” pattern, is believed to have been owned by Martha Washington.

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Date1750-1775

Geography Made - China

Medium/TechniquePorcelain (hard-paste), enamel, gilt

DimensionsOverall (H x W x D): 5 15/16 in. x 14 1/2 in. x 14 1/2 in. (15.08 cm x 36.83 cm x 36.83 cm)

Credit LineGift of William Wilson Corcoran, 1879 Conservation courtesy of the E. Rhodes & Leona B. Carpenter Foundation

Object numberH-37

DescriptionCircular bowl with a honey-brown edge, plain rim, and rounded sides on a high foot ring, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue and overglaze polychrome enamels and gilt. The exterior features a large pink peony and a large Chinese rosette of gilt trellis-diaper and coin-diaper ground patterns on alternating brown, blue, and yellow lobes against large-scale leaves in pale pink, blue-green, and yellow with additional flowers scattered across the ground. The interior is decorated in a similar manner. Around the foot are eight pink flower sprigs.

Pattern Name: Tobacco Leaf

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