Description:
Chinese export porcelain punch bowl decorated with a lotus-petal design in the Famille rose palette in iron red, shades of pink, and gilding. Chinese considered the lotus ('nelumbo nucifero'), a plant native to China, to be a powerful symbol with several meanings: association with harmony since the Chinese name, 'hehua', and the word for harmony have the same pronunciation; symbol of Buddha representing his purity and transcendence; symbol of fertility and abundance with its seed pod representing the wish for many children, especially sons; and symbol of Daoism where it is the emblem of 'He Xian Gu', one of the eight Daoist immortals. The lotus was both a popular design on Chinese porcelain found on ceramics as early as the Han dynasty (206 B.C. - 9 A.D.) and in the export market; while Westerners appreciated the design, few understood its significance to Chinese culture. Punch bowls decorated with pink lotus and gilding was popular in the English, Spanish, and American markets. Howard describes a number of lotus and gilt-decorated wares that were part of the cargo of the Spanish galleon, 'Santisima Trinidad' captured by Captain Hyde Parker (1714-1782) in 1762; and the Peabody Essex Museum has a punch bowl with a history of being taken as a prize by Captain Samuel Carlton (1731-1804) from a British ship during the American Revolution. Another lotus-decorated punch bowl was owned by Isaac Gouverneur (1749-1800), a New York City merchant. Gouveneur's nephew, Gouverneur Kemble (1786-1875) inherited the bowl and his family used it at "Cocklooft Hall", its mansion in Newark on the Passiac River. Both the interior and exterior rims have a band of red and gilt stylized foliate sprigs with tassels; the two rows of overlapping pink lotus petals, one row in lighter pinks and the other in darker pinks, around the sides are outlined and highlighted in iron-red; and the well has a large gilt and red scrolling lotus plant.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+57.150 |
