January 20-April 21

Coffee Pot,
first-quarter of the nineteenth century

Punch Bowl,
probably eighteenth century

Tureen, about 1760

Chinese
Coffee Pot
hard-paste porcelain
with enamel decoration and gilding
first-quarter of nineteenth century
The Joseph Palmer Knapp Collection 58.3.224

In Europe the custom of drinking coffee began in the seventeenth century, and it increased during the following centuries. Coffee was produced in European colonies, such as the West Indies and Latin America. This coffee pot was produced in China for the American market. While a European landscape was painted on the body, Chinese motifs, such as decorative patterns and butterflies, cover the marginal areas.  

Masumi Ninomiya