Blue & White Tree of Life Lug Bowl

A cream-white ceramic bowl with a single flat lug handle and a softly scalloped rim. Inside, a border of trailing blue flowers and vines circles a centrepiece of a flowering tree with star-shaped blossoms, rising from a small mound. The glaze has warmed with age to a gentle ivory in the centre, the kind of patina that only comes with time. It's a comfortable size to hold in one hand, good for soup, cereal, fruit or a little pile of keys by the door.

The flowering-tree design comes from far away. It echoes the "Tree of Life" palampores, hand-painted cotton panels from India that took Europe by storm in the 1600s. English potters loved the look so much that they adapted it into blue transferware patterns. The single flat handle also has a long history: it descends from the porringer, a small eared bowl used for broth and porridge since medieval times.