Sugar Bowl in the Shape of a Woman with a Basket, Meissener Porzellan Manufaktur, 1741
painting technique, h 16.7cm × w 12cm × d 10cm More details
The basket, which contained the sugar, is held by a black woman. The figure is scantily clad, wearing only a cloth around her hips and head. The association between this black woman and sugar is a cruel one, given that sugar was mostly produced by enslaved people. When Black people are depicted in Meissen porcelain, it is almost always in a stereotypical and racist context.
