an early antique transferware tea bowl
diameter 205mm x height 98mm
manufactured in around the mid victorian period.
1784, in england, the enormous tax on tea was dramatically reduced, which significantly increased the frequency and enjoyment of tea drinking, which in turn, increased the demand for tea services and pots decorated with traditional chinese decorations. the same year, to meet demand, josiah spode perfected the process of blue underglaze printing on earthenware from hand-engraved copper plates.
early transferware pottery rarely had a makers mark, the use of transfers was so unique, so modern, that the pottery decorated with transfers needed no explanation as to who made it. it was only when transfer designs became more widespread that makers sought to secure a design with a makers mark.
the decoration on the bowl is known as "willow pattern" . the bowl would have originally been part of a tea service. the willow pattern was originally designed in the late eighteenth century by thomas turner of caughley. thomas turner also invented a chinese legend to go with the pattern. as illustrated in the decoration of this bowl, in the garden of the country mansion owned by a wealthy mandarin can be seen an orange tree. in the legend it is beneath this tree that the wealthy man discovers his daughter, li chi in the intimate company of the mandarins pauper secretary, chang. the mandarin did not approve of the love affair and chases the couple over his bridge. the young lovers spend the night hiding in changs house. the following morning they take the boat belonging to li chis father and escape to an island. it is here that the gods take pity on the lovers predicament and turn li chi and chang into turtle doves to live a life happy ever after.
not only is this an early example of a bowl used in the fashionable tea ritual of the day, it has a very old and at the time costly metal staple repair. the repair gives the bowl an even more charming appeal, the bowl has its own personality, the repair gives us an insight into its history and the importance and value the owner held for it.
