Chinese Porcelain Punchbowls Provide Peek Into Sydney History

Two early 19th Century punchbowls are now on display for a limited time in the Sydney Harbour Gallery at the Australian National Maritime Museum. (Supplied)

Two early 19^th Century punchbowls are now on display for a limited time in the Sydney Harbour Gallery at the Australian National Maritime Museum, offering a glimpse into the first European settlement.

Made by unknown Chinese craftsmen, the hand-painted ‘Sydney punchbowls’ depict the scenes of the city dating from the Macquarie era (1810-1821). The bowls originated in Canton (now Guangzhou City in China) about three decades after the British settled at Sydney Cove in 1788.

They are the only two known examples of Chinese exporting porcelain. One bowl is in the State Library of New South Wales collection, while the other is part of the National Maritime Collection at the Maritime Museum. The two are similar but not exactly matching. Both have been donated to their collections–the library’s in 1926 and the museum’s in 2006.

Two early 19th Century punchbowls are now on display for a limited time in the Sydney Harbour Gallery at the Australian National Maritime Museum. (Supplied)

“The punchbowls feature panoramic views of Sydney Harbour from opposite vantage points of early 19th century Sydney,” reads a statement by the Maritime Museum. “The Library punchbowl has a view from the eastern side of Sydney Cove, named Tubowgule by the Gadigal community, and the view on the Museum bowl is from Dawes Point on the western side, named Tallawoladah. The detailed scenes show several landmarks in and around Sydney Cove at the time.”

The designs are combined with traditional Chinese porcelain decorations, each featuring a grouping of Aboriginal figures in the centre.

The original commissioner and the reason for the commission remain a mystery.

Two early 19th Century punchbowls are now on display for a limited time in the Sydney Harbour Gallery at the Australian National Maritime Museum. (Supplied)

Made with in thirty years of the first settlement, the bowls celebrate the progress of the British colony, the Maritime Museum’s website introduced. Even after 200 years, viewers can still identify some of the buildings and locations on the bowls, such as the Government House, the head of Sydney Cove, and St. Phillips Church.

“These punchbowls accurately portray Sydney in about 1818, with its warehouses, commercial wharves and increasingly sophisticated public and private buildings. They were undoubtedly made as a celebration of the colony’s progress and move from penal colony to burgeoning metropolis,” said Daina Fletcher, museum Head of Acquisitions Development states.

“The presence of First Nations people on the foreshores and fishing from Nawi in the harbour is also a reminder of the tragedy being inflicted upon them through introduced disease, pollution of water supplies, and seizure of lands.”