antique 1860s wedding punch bowl, civil war vintage moss rose ironstone china

Antique moss rose ironstone china punch bowl, without chips or cracks but showing quite a bit of wear and use.

Antique moss rose ironstone china punch bowl, without chips or cracks but showing quite a bit of wear and use.

This isn't marked, though there's no question that this is one of the oldest pieces of moss rose - or any ironstone china - that we've ever handled. We're putting the age at something around the mid-1800s, though we would not be surprised to find it's early Victorian.

Someone went through a lot of trouble to try to remove the lettering Tom and Jerry on the side, I'm not sure why, since this is a traditional old punch, and the bowl is obviously a punch bowl shape. I suppose it's possible that the lettering was added after production, and then this was 'restored'.

It measures 10 3/4" in diameter across the rim of the bowl, and 4 1/2" deep. Not large by today's punch bowl standards! It'll make a beautiful display piece in your collection, or hold flowers very nicely.