Beaker and trembleuse saucer

1750-52

The Chelsea blanc de chine-style wares, made from a formula that combined quartz and a fine clay, and vitrified by the addition of glass frit and lime, beautifully exhibit the ability to produce another type of white-bodied translucent porcelain: soft-paste porcelain. The tall beaker shape is based on the Chinese original, but the trembleuse saucer is a European design; it is fitted with a circular gallery to secure the beaker in hands that "trembled" with age or illness.

Soft paste porcelain

3 1/8 in. (8 cm), cup height

2 15/16 in. (7.5 cm), cup diameter

4 1/2 in. (11.4 cm), saucer diameter

Gift of Martha and Henry Isaacson

76.238

Provenance: Collection of Mr and Mrs Henry and Martha Isaacson, unknown purchase date until 1976; gift from Mr and Mrs Henry and Martha Isaacson to Seattle Art Museum, Washington, 1976

Photo: Paul Macapia

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Porcelain Stories: From China to Europe", February 17, 2000-May 7, 2000 (2/17/2000 - 5/7/2000)

Published ReferencesEmerson, Julie, Jennifer Chen, & Mimi Gardner Gates, "Porcelain Stories, From China to Europe", Seattle Art Museum, 2000, pg. 156

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