Chinese Bowl

Uncovered in an archeological excavation, this rice bowl may have belonged to a Chinese tenant farmer or laborer. Chinese laborers began arriving in Puget Sound late in the 19th century, part of a larger diaspora spurred by wars and famine in mainland China. The farmlands of Ebey’s Prairie on Whidbey Island provided work to a small community of Chinese men that retained their cultural connections through frequent visits to the Chinese communities in Port Townsend and Seattle. Prevented from bringing their families to the United States by the 1882 Exclusion Act, familiar household objects such as this bowl would have provided comforting reminders of home for a laborer far away from loved ones.