Sugar bowl with a couple in a landscape c. 1765 - 1770

This is a porcelain sugar bowl with a couple in a landscape, created by the Kaiserliche Porzellanmanufaktur. The depiction of couples in idyllic settings emerged during a time of strict social conventions. These images often represented an escape from the rigid expectations placed on individuals, particularly women, within the confines of social class. The sugar bowl, itself an object of domesticity and refinement, becomes a canvas for narratives that both reflect and subtly question these norms. What we see here, with the intimate portrayal of a couple in nature, can be viewed as either reinforcing the traditional roles of men and women or as a quiet rebellion against the constraints of courtly life. The landscape surrounding the couple isn’t merely a backdrop; it's an emotional space where identities are negotiated. As you look closer, consider how the very act of consuming sugar—a luxury item with a dark history of colonialism and slavery—complicates the romanticized scene. The bowl invites us to consider the intertwined stories of privilege, power, and the yearning for a simpler, more authentic existence.