Chinese Export Porcelain Punch Bowl

China, probably Jingdezhen
Date: c. 1765
Maker: China, probably Jingdezhen
Dimensions: 9 1/2 H x 21 1/2 Dia. (at top)
Materials: Porcelain, enameled and gilded
Provenance: According to the donor, the bowl belonged to Daniel D. Tompkins (1774-1825), governor of New York from 1807 to 1817. From Tompkins the bowl passed to Mr. and Mrs. John Van Schaick Lansing Pruyn; then to their daugher, Mrs. William Gorham Rice; to her husband, Colonel Rice, and their son, William Gorham Rice, Jr., who donated the bowl to the Albany Institute.
Credit: Gift of Col. William Gorham Rice and his son, William Gorham Rice, Jr.
Accession Number: u1972.25.1
Comments:

This massive punch bowl is decorated in rose- palette enamels with a bold floral pattern of long clusters of leafy tree peonies issuing from behind a fence. On top of the irregular rock is a collection of antiquities relating to Buddhism. Punch bowls were not part of the ordinary dinner ware exported from China to the U.S., but would be ordered individually. They were used extensively, before and after meals and for used for special celebrations, to hold hot or cold drinks.