Punch Bowl

Date1750-1765

MediumHard-paste porcelain

DimensionsOH: 4 1/16"; Diam.: 9 3/8"

Credit LineGift of Thomas W. and Gillie M. Wood

Object number1996-870

DescriptionCircular punch bowl with plain, narrow foot ring and slightly scalloped rim stained iron brown. Exterior of bowl has two large and four small undecorated, shaped cartouches surrounded by an overall ground pattern of underglaze cobalt-blue circles and dots interspersed with stylized flowers and foliage. Interior rim of bowl has narrow blue border of foliage and scrolls. A large, blue, asymmetrical flower is painted in the center of the bowl's interior.
Label TextFragments of blue and white Chinese porcelain punch bowls are found at many Williamsburg archaeological sites. This punch bowl is unusual because its blank cartouches reveal that it was meant to have been decorated over the glaze with polychrome enamels, but this final step in its manufacture was never completed.