With Dressing Gown and Cap

Travel reports and paintings on Chinese porcelain gave rise to a European picture of China as a place where people lived in harmony with nature. Initially, the main aim was to imitate East Asian tableware, but to adapt it to European table manners. Relatively quickly, however, another useful German porcelain was discovered: the production of figurines, as table decorations or as independent works of art.

The fact that we are not seeing a person of Chinese origin here, but a European who has disguised himself as one, is shown by the way he takes his tea: On the small table next to the pot is the so-called "Koppchen" - a small cup without a handle. Here, however, the tea is sipped from a saucer, a completely European invention. This allowed the hot tea to cool slightly on its way from the pot into the saucer before being sipped.