Teacup and saucer

Designer Designed by Karl L. H. Müller American

Manufacturer Manufactured by Union Porcelain Works American

ca. 1876

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 774

Made as a prototype for a porcelain service exhibited at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, this tea set depicts troubling imagery on the finials of the teapot and sugar bowl in the form of heads of an Asian and a Black man. While designer Karl Muller’s intent was undoubtedly to present well-known iconography for tea and sugar—a goat is also depicted on the handle of the creamer—the representations reveal the pervasiveness of racist thought in 19th-century America. The Black head also underscores how the commodity of sugar was inextricably linked to the exploitation of enslaved labor, especially in the Atlantic World.

Artwork Details

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Teacup and saucer
Designer: Designed by Karl L. H. Müller (1820–1887)
Manufacturer: Manufactured by Union Porcelain Works (1863–1922)
Date: ca. 1876
Geography: Made in Brooklyn, New York, United States
Culture: American
Medium: Porcelain
Dimensions: Cup: H. 2 in. (5.1 cm); Diam. 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm)
Saucer: Diam. 5 1/16 in. (12.9 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Chace, 1969
Object Number: 69.194.9, .10
Curatorial Department: The American Wing

More Artwork

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Vase

Karl L. H. Müller

Union Porcelain Works

ca. 1884

Figural Group

Karl L. H. Müller

Union Porcelain Works

ca. 1876

Mug, Karl L. H. Müller American, Porcelain, American — Mug
Karl L. H. Müller
Union Porcelain Works
ca. 1863

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