Sauceboat c. 1755

This is a porcelain sauceboat, made by the Worcester Royal Porcelain Company, its exact date is unknown. This piece speaks volumes about 18th-century British society and its global entanglements. During this period, porcelain was a luxury item, a symbol of wealth and refined taste among the British elite. Owning such items marked your status, differentiating you along class lines. This sauceboat subtly reflects the colonial trade routes that fueled the porcelain industry; the materials and the styles were often derived from Asia. The hand-painted decorations, with their delicate floral motifs and bird, create an idealized, pastoral scene, far removed from the realities of industrial production and colonial exploitation. Consider how an object as seemingly innocuous as a sauceboat can reflect and reinforce societal structures, making it a potent symbol of its time.