Art Institute of Chicago

Tea Bowl and Dish

Artist unknown (Chinese, made for the American market)

Date

c. 1784–95

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain, glaze, with enamels in colors, and gilding

Culture

China

Department

Arts of the Americas

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This tea bowl and dish, decorated with an American sailing vessel and the initials CWJER (or CW & ER ), are among the many examples of souvenir ware that captains and trade merchants special ordered from the porcelain shops in Canton to commemorate their journeys. The decoration on these pieces is of a more personal character than the average stock porcelain. Motifs for commemorative ware were most often copied from illustrations on mercantile and cargo documentation and thus probably bore little resemblance to the actual vessels.

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