Sauce Tureen, Chinese Sports-Flying a Kite

Item Number: D53
Shape Type: Sauce Tureen
Pattern Name: Chinese Sports-Flying a Kite
Date: c. 1815-1820
Dimensions: H 5.5″, W 4.25″, L 8.25″
Maker: Minton
Makers’ Mark:  Unmarked
Description:
An earthenware sauce tureen. The tureen is printed in blue underglaze and overglaze enameled in several colors. This Chinese Sports pattern #539 was first recorded as hand painted on bone china in c. 1810. Earthenware versions are found on both dinner wares and tea wares. Each piece in a service portrayed a different scene with children engaged in sporting games. In the central pattern here, the children are seen flying a kite. Minton used a narrow linear design for the border on hollow ware pieces such as in this tureen and on tea wares. Other dinner ware pieces employed a wide border, as is the case of the large platter (see Chinese Sports # 1 recorded in the TCC Pattern Database), in which multiple sporting scenes are depicted. Miniature sporting scenes are also found on the tureen lid (see the additional image included herein). Each of these scenes in miniature, becomes a central design on other shapes. The pattern should be considered one of a series. See P79 for another example in this series on a platter.
Condition: Very Good: