Fruit Basket
c. 1770–72
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain, underglaze blue decoration, and glaze
Dimensions
5.1 × 14.7 × 14.7 cm (2 × 5 3/4 × 5 3/4 in.)
Classification
porcelain
Department
Arts of the Americas
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
266210
Rights
Public Domain
About this artwork
This delicate fruit basket is a rare example of early American porcelain, one of around 20 known surviving works by Gousse Bonnin and George Anthony Morris’s American China Manufactory. Porcelain is a strong, luminous type of clay that originated in China, where its formula was a heavily guarded secret. It eventually emerged as a prized material in global luxury goods, causing fierce competition between various producers of porcelain wares. The American China Manufactory fruit basket represents ...