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Sugar Bowl and Cover

Decorative Arts and Design

The motifs on this tea set are representations of race from the nineteenth century, a time when stereotypical racial images circulated heavily in popular culture and were rarely questioned.

The imagery was intended to symbolize the labor required for the contents of each vessel, including an enslaved African sugarcane picker for the sugar bowl, an Asian man for the teapot, and a goat for the cream pitcher. These objects speak to the exploitative nature of the relationship between white Americans and African descendants and Asian peoples under colonial regimes.
MEDIUM Porcelain
DATES ca. 1876
DIMENSIONS Height: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm) Diameter of base: 2 3/4 in. (7 cm)  (show scale)
MARKINGS Painted in red on bottom over glaze: "U.P.W." with "S" below.
SIGNATURE no signature
INSCRIPTIONS no inscriptions
ACCESSION NUMBER 68.87.30a-b
CREDIT LINE Gift of Franklin Chace
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION Sugar bowl and cover, part of tête-à-tête tea set (68.87.28-.32), hard paste porcelain. Henna ground with floral design, two white panels with flowers and butterflies, supported by four white rabbit feet, two handles composed of white doves resting on a pitcher plant. The top knob is in the shape of an African-American boy's head. Condition: Good
EXHIBITIONS
MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view
CAPTION Union Porcelain Works (1863–ca. 1922). Sugar Bowl and Cover, ca. 1876. Porcelain, Height: 4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Franklin Chace, 68.87.30a-b. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 68.87.29a-b_68.87.30a-b_68.87.31_68.87.32a-b_SL1.jpg)
IMAGE 68.87.29a-b_68.87.30a-b_68.87.31_68.87.32a-b_SL1.jpg.
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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY
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