Sugar bowl with cover (part of a service) 1755 - 1765

This porcelain sugar bowl with cover was made in Italy by the Doccia Porcelain Manufactory sometime between 1737 and 1896. The sculptural details that adorn it show the classical influences that were a popular fashion in European high society at that time. But the significance of this object goes beyond its elegant aesthetic. The fact that sugar needed a special container like this tells us something about European social history. Sugar was, for a long time, a rare and expensive commodity. As Europe's colonial reach expanded, sugar production relied increasingly on enslaved labour, making it a controversial element in global trade. This bowl is a testament to the domestic rituals of elite society, but it invites us to reflect on the brutal economics of the sugar trade that made such refined objects possible. As historians, we use sources like trade records, plantation inventories, and abolitionist pamphlets to investigate the complex social and economic systems in which such objects circulated.