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Cup and saucer: C.1 & A-1949

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Object information

Current Location: In storage

Maker(s)

Factory: Vincennes Porcelain Manufactory

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, painted in monochrome puce enamel with birds in flight and a landscapes, and gilded.

Soft-paste porcelain, painted in monochrome puce (camaiëu pourpre) enamel, and gilding. The cup has straight sides which curve inwards slightly at the base, and an ear-shaped handle. The circular saucer has sloping sides and a flat centre. There is a suspension hole in the footrim of the saucer. The cup is decorated with a bird in a tree, with one bird in flight on each side, and has a dentilated gold rim, a gold line round the base, and lines on the sides of the handle. The centre of the saucer is decorated with two buildings in a landscape, and on the sides with three birds in flight. The edge is encircled by a dentilated gold band. The colour of the crimson on the saucer is darker than that on the cup.

Notes

History note: Uncertain before donor

Legal notes

Given by Louis C.G. Clarke

Place(s) associated

  • Vincennes ⪼ Val-de-Marne ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Given (1949) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Louis XV
Circa 1753 CE - 1760 CE

Note

Decoration of cherubs, flowers, birds, and landscapes in crimson monochrome (camaieu pourpre) and blue monochrome (camaieu bleu) were popular throughout the 1750s. This cup and saucer have been dated to the Vincennes period, but might have been made at Sèvres. A Vincennes cup and saucer of Bouillard shape of c. 1753 painted in crimson with a bird in a landscape is in the Musée des Arts Décoratifs.(Inv. no. 33263A-B).

The shape of this cup resembles several in the Wallace Collection which Savill (see Documentation, 1988, vol. II) suggests may be the form described as gobelet 'couvert' et soucoupe, but lacking its cover. If so, this would be the first size which without its cover measured between 6.4 to 7 cm, with, a saucer of the form normally accompanying a gobelet litron, between 12.8 and 14.5 cm in diameter. This one has a gobelet litron style handle of Savill’s shape C, and a litron saucer.The gobelet couvert might also have a Bouillard shape saucer. Savill notes that examples are known from 1753 to c. 1780.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamel ( crimson (camaïeu pourpre)) gold
Saucer Diameter 13 cm Height 2.9 cm
Cup Rim Diameter 6.6 cm
Cup Height 6.7 cm
Cup With Handle Width 9 cm

Materials used in production

Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 'I' or I and dt
  • Location: On base of cup
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark

Inscription present: is this in fact there?

  • Location: On base of saucer
  • Method of creation: S
  • Type: Incised mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.1 & A-1949
Primary reference Number: 71107
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 3 September 2020 Last processed: Wednesday 13 December 2023

Associated departments & institutions

Owner or interested party: The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department: Applied Arts

Citation for print

This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:

The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Cup and saucer" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71107 Accessed: 2024-11-05 15:26:36

Citation for Wikipedia

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{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/71107 |title=Cup and saucer |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 15:26:36|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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