Tea bowl
Even as a bachelor, George Washington acquired choice furnishings which bespoke his gentility and position in Virginia society. He was at the height of elegance in serving tea in the "Compleat sett Fine Image China" that he received in 1757. Throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, Europeans preferred to take their tea in the Chinese fashion, sipping out of bowls rather than handled cups. Saucers, a European invention, held the hot bowl and provided a place for resting spoons.
Published ReferencesCadou, Carol Borchert. The George Washington Collection: Fine and Decorative Arts at Mount Vernon (New York: Hudson Hills Press, 2006), p. 29.
Detweiler, Susan Gray, "The Ceramics," Antiques 135, no. 2 (February 1989): 498, pl. II.
Detweiler, Susan Gray. George Washington's Chinaware (New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1982), 24, 30-34, figs. 7-8.
Mount Vernon Ladies Association. The Mount Vernon China (Mount Vernon, VA: Mount Vernon Ladies Association, 1949), p. 39.