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