Coffee cup (Chocolate cup)

Museum Object Number 1952.0208.002

Object Name

Coffee cup (Chocolate cup)

Category

Ceramics

Credit Line/Donor

Museum purchase

Place of Origin

United Kingdom, Europe

Date

1775-1800

Subjects

Chinoiserie

Materials

Earthenware (pearlware); Lead glaze

Techniques

Thrown, Extruded, Painted

Dimensions (inches)

2.5 (H) , 3.4 (L) , 2.4 (Diam)

Dimensions (centimeters)

6.4 (H) , 8.6 (L) , 6.1 (Diam)

Object Description

Web - 03/04/2025

In the vein of “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery,” many ceramics manufacturers over the centuries have attempted to imitate in less pricey ceramics more costly wares including porcelain. Among these imitations is a pale-bodied earthenware featuring a bluish lead glaze and commonly known as pearlware. The name derived from “pearl white” ware, a type of pottery from Josiah Wedgwood’s Staffordshire, England, factory. Though Wedgwood first brought pearl white ware to market in the late 1770s, other manufacturers appear to have been producing versions of it already, under the name “china glaze.” The term China, in the 1700s, commonly referred to much-prized Chinese export porcelain though as the century progressed European manufacturers also produced a broad range of fine wares. Porcelain from both continents would be imitated in pearlware made at numerous factories in Staffordshire and other English counties. On this coffee- or chocolate cup, underglaze blue-painted Chinese porcelain-inspired designs include a pavilion (or pagoda), fences and willows. Similar patterns are found on pearlware beverage- and dinnerware excavated at numerous archaeological sites associated with Colonial America.