This attractive porcelain tea bowl is entirely hand-painted in fresh polychrome enamels. The main floral spray is complemented by sprigs and leaves on the reverse. The inside rim is decorated with a blue band and purple scalloped border, with lines and foliate motifs. A line of tiny puce dots runs around the lip of the bowl, and a small pink flower is painted on the inside base.

The pattern was enormously popular with North Staffordshire porcelain manufacturers such as the firm of Machin, during the first decade of the nineteenth century, and it appears on teawares of various shapes.

Condition: Good - no chips, cracks or restoration. The glaze is finely crazed.

Dimensions: Diameter 3 1/2" (8.9cm); Height 2" (5cm)

For the pattern see Michael Berthoud A Cabinet of British Creamers (Micawber Publications, 1999), plates 410 and 414.