Sugar Caster thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
British Galleries, Room 56c

Sugar Caster

1690-1715 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Object Type
In its form this intriguing object seems to imitate a European sugar caster. There is no mechanism, however, to fix the lid to the body, making it useless as a container for shaking sugar. Two interpretations come to mind. The first is that it was made as a purely decorative item to stand on a shelf. Europeans loved blue-and-white porcelain from China and ordered all sorts of objects to ornament their homes. The second is that there was an error during manufacture. Chinese potters had probably never seen western sugar casters and did not understand their function. They were, on the other hand, familiar with another kind of vessel with a pierced lid, the incense burner. Incense burners, like this vessel, had lids that did not need to be attached to their lower sections.

Time
By the late 17th century large quantities of sugar were being shipped from the West Indies to England. Wealthy people served this luxury product from beautiful vessels made of silver or porcelain.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Sugar Caster
  • Lid
Materials and techniques
Porcelain, decorated in underglaze cobalt blue
Dimensions
  • Height: 17.3cm
  • Base diameter: 6.3cm
Dimensions checked: Measured; 23/04/1999 by sp
Style
Gallery label
British Galleries: The shape of these sugar casters is European, though they were made in China. It was common for European merchants to send wooden models to China for makers there to copy. The combination of familiar forms with new materials and decoration was very popular with English consumers.(27/03/2003)
Credit line
The Salting Bequest
Object history
Bequeathed by Mr. George Salting, accessioned in 1910. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.
Made in Jingdezhen, China;;
Production
Kangxi reign period
Summary
Object Type
In its form this intriguing object seems to imitate a European sugar caster. There is no mechanism, however, to fix the lid to the body, making it useless as a container for shaking sugar. Two interpretations come to mind. The first is that it was made as a purely decorative item to stand on a shelf. Europeans loved blue-and-white porcelain from China and ordered all sorts of objects to ornament their homes. The second is that there was an error during manufacture. Chinese potters had probably never seen western sugar casters and did not understand their function. They were, on the other hand, familiar with another kind of vessel with a pierced lid, the incense burner. Incense burners, like this vessel, had lids that did not need to be attached to their lower sections.

Time
By the late 17th century large quantities of sugar were being shipped from the West Indies to England. Wealthy people served this luxury product from beautiful vessels made of silver or porcelain.
Bibliographic reference
Kerr, Rose and Luisa E. Mengoni Chinese Export Ceramics London: V&A Publishing, 2011, p.25, pl.19
Collection
Accession number
C.772&A-1910

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Record createdMarch 27, 2003
Record URL
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