Punchbowl, side and inside view

Punchbowl, side view

Punchbowl, top view

[Chinese export ware punchbowl featuring a scene of Sydney Cove before 1820]

Panoramic view

The exterior painted with a continuous scene of Sydney Cove punctuated by a monogram in gilt, now rather illegible, which may read "HCA" with the letter "B" beneath. The inner and outer borders of the rim are of a gilded Chinese floral design. In the bowl's interior are a group of Aboriginal figures.

The image is from the eastern shore of Sydney Cove where present day East Circular Quay is located. The elongated two-storey stone building in the foreground is the sandstone cottage built by Governor Macquarie for his favourite boatman, the Jamaican-born convict Billy Blue. To the left of the cottage, facing a sandy beach where the Circular Quay ferry wharves now stand is First Government House whose site is commemorated on the corner of Bridge and Phillip Streets. On the far shore across the Cove is The Rocks, with windmills on the ridge, and Dawes Point and Robert Campbell's residence and warehouses to the left of the Point. The large three-storey yellow building is the Commissariat Building whose site is now occupied by the Museum of Contemporary Art. 

The mysterious monogram initials are difficult to decipher due to partial paint loss, but they are almost certainly those of the intended owner of the bowl, as seen on with similar punchbowls of European and American ownership. It is possible that they may refer to Henry Cobden Antill, Governor Macquaries aide-de-camp who also had a close association with the artist Lewin. All three were in the party to make the first official journey across the Blue Mountains in 1815.

Punchbowl, side and inside view

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