Terms and conditions of use
Punch bowl
(c. 1775)
- Medium
- earthenware (tin-glazed)
- Measurements
- 6.6 × 15.6 × 15.5 cm
- Place/s of Execution
- Bristol, England
- Inscription
- pained (diagonally) in blue on base c.: O S / 136
- Accession Number
- 2024.282
- Department
- International Decorative Arts
- Credit Line
- National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Patricia Begg OAM Bequest, 2024
© Public Domain - Gallery location
- Not on display
- About this work
-
The colour palette and decorative motifs employed across this punch bowl derive from imported Chinese and Japanese porcelains; however English potters often took their inspiration from imported Dutch delftwares, rather than the Asian originals.The imagery over the floor of this bowl includes the Chinese motifs of a scholar’s rock, flowering plum blossom and a bird within foliage, all surrounded by a ring of ruyi symbols, emblematic of power and good fortune. Yet the colour palette of blue, green and iron red is inspired by Japanese porcelains, and similarly, the reeded form of the bowl references Japanese bowls imitating chrysanthemum flowers.
