Saucer

DateCa.1750

MediumHard-paste porcelain

DimensionsD: 5 1/4"
OH: 1 1/16"

Credit LineGift of Mr. & Mrs. Michael V. Jennings

Object number1986-109,9

DescriptionChinese porcelain saucer decorated in underglaze blue and coated on the exterior in a chocolate brown slip. The interior features a shoreline with massive rock beside a small house and several trees. Across this water, another shore or island is visible with a small, open pavilion. The rim bears a diaper band and the cup sits on a low footring.Label TextThe dark brown on this cup and saucer was popular in the Netherlands, especially on wares used primarily in coffeehouses or taverns. It is typically called “Batavia” after the Dutch trading port, now known as Jakarta, Indonesia. This was a popular way to decorate inexpensive porcelain. Wares of this type, fairly common on archaeological sites in Virginia, include fragments of teacups and saucers, almost identical to these, recovered from the site of Richard Charlton’s coffeehouse on Duke of Gloucester Street. This example employs the "Batavian pavillion" variant on the Nanking motif, with a house, rock and trees separated by water from another shore or island with a small open pavillion.ProvenanceHeirloom and Howard, Ltd.

Nanking Cargo (wreck of the VOC ship Geldermalsen salvage)