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The expanded popularity of porcelain created at Meissen brought increased marketing opportunities. This patterned, saucer-less tea bowl with Arabic inscription was manufactured at Meissen specifically for the Turkish market around 1756, which corresponds to the Islamic year of 1170.
Decorated on the outside with lotus flower relief, there is an inscription below the rim in gold lettering that translates, “Ah, how beautiful, may it taste good to the drinker, in the year of the Hegira 1170.” In later shipments to Turkey, the crossed swords mark of the manufactory was replaced with pseudo-Chinese characters on account of the former’s resemblance to the Christian cross.
