Battle of the Saintes Punch Bowl

Commissioned as a gift for commanders, this Chinese porcelain punch bowl reveals a British commentary on their decisive 1782 victory over the French at the Battle of the Saintes. Just a year after the Franco-American victory at Yorktown the global battle over British control in North America continued in the Caribbean, one of the most lucrative colonial possessions in the world. 

Punch bowls were often used as instruments of political discourse through their designs. The original print of the battle, View of the Battle at Îles des Saintes, was engraved by Francis Chesham and John Peltro in 1783. The British victory helped repair confidence in the Navy by preventing the planned French and Spanish attack on the island of Jamaica, the key British possession in the region. The reverse satirical scene is a version of the print Politeness by caricaturist James Gillray and presents an Englishman and a Frenchman trading insults.  

• Object Details

  Punch bowl 
  China 
  ca. 1784 
  Hard-paste Porcelain 
  Museum of the American Revolution, Gift of the Frances and Beverly DuBose Foundation 
  2025.11.01