This sparrow beak jug of pear-shaped form, with a raised foot and loop handle is decorated in the chinoiserie style. Chinese figures were a popular motif on porcelain from various English factories. Some wares were close copies of the Chinese originals. These faithful reproductions may have been made as replacements for missing or broken pieces in existing Chinese export porcelain sets. The adapted patterns, such as the 'famille rose' (so called because of the dominant pink rose enamels used) figures on this jug, is painted with a lady who is holding a fan with a boy(s), rendered in a simplified and caricature-like style. The figures are set in a freely drawn landscape. A full tea service by the late 1760s would have comprised at least 40 pieces. Apart from multiple tea and coffee cups with matching saucers, other standard items included a teapot, sugar bowl, milk jug as well as a slop bowl (into which the dregs from tea and coffee cups were emptied).
