Sugar bowl with cover (part of a traveling tea service) 1783 - 1793

This is the sugar bowl with cover, part of a traveling tea service, made by Dihl et Guérhard. Notice how the piece is dominated by its cylindrical form, refined with an elegant restraint. The structure is defined by its crisp white porcelain, and the gold trim creates a visual hierarchy, segmenting the piece into distinct registers, from the base to the lid. The painted 'B' on the bowl, wreathed in floral garlands, disrupts the regularity and speaks to the object's semiotic function as a signifier of identity and ownership. The repetition of circular motifs—from the spherical knob atop the lid to the rounded handles, and the floral wreath enclosing the initial—suggests a concern with harmony and balance. Consider how the very act of containing sugar transforms a mundane object into a vessel of cultural meaning. The bowl becomes a site where luxury, identity, and social ritual converge.