Skip to main content

Gobelet litron et soucoupe: C.64 & A-1961

An image of Cup and saucer

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Alternative views

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Gobelet litron et soucoupe

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Castel, Philippe
Gilder: Le Guay, Etienne-Henry (Uncertain)

Entities

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, each decorated with a dark blue ground, rserves painted in enamels with an exotic bird, and gilding.

Soft-paste porcelain, decorated overglaze with a beau bleu ground, painting in purplish-blue, yellowish green, yellow ochre, red, brown, and black enamels, and gilding Cylindrical cup with double curved handle. Circular saucer with flat central area, deep, sloping sides. There is a suspension hole in the footring of the saucer. The cup has a beau bleu ground elaborately gilded on each side with back to back rinceaux, garlands, sprays of leaves and two birds. On the front there is an almost circular reserve, framed by a wide tooled gold band and a narrow plain gold band, and painted in polychrome with an exotic bird, standing amid trees. There are bands of gilding round the foot and rim, lines of gilding down the sides of the handle and a stylised leaf, husks and dots down its back. The base is inscribed in pale blue enamel with the name of the bird, 'Faisan couronne des Indes'. The saucer also has a beau bleu ground decorated with six pairs of rinceau, garlands and sprays of leaves. In the centre there is a circular reserve, framed by a wide chased gilt band and a narrow plain gilt band, and painted in polychrome with an exotic bird,standing on a fallen, sprouting branch, with trees in the background. There are bands of gilding round the rim and outside lower edge. The base is inscribed in pale blue enamel with the name of the bird, 'Le Mâle, appelle le Pape'.

Notes

History note: Earl of Balfour KG, PC ? second Earl (1853-1945) ?; acquired before October 1948 by Louis C.G. Clarke, MA, Leckhampton, Cambridge, by whom bequeathed

Legal notes

L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960

Place(s) associated

  • Sèvres ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray

Dating

18th Century, Late
Louis XVI
Circa 1784 CE - Circa 1794 CE

Note

Both the birds were painted after engraved and coloured plates by F.-N. Martinot which accompanied both the quarto and folio editions of the comte de Buffon’s 'Histoire naturelle des oiseaux', 1771-83 and 1771-86 respectively.: the Faisan couronne des Indes, from Vol. II (vol. XXIV) 1776, pl. 118, and the Le Mâle, appelle le Pape from vol. IV (vol. XXVI), 1778, pl. 159, fig. 2. (The volume nos and text of the two editions differ, but the plate numbers are the same for both).

The gobelet litron was named after a cylindrical measure, usually wooden, for dry goods such as corn and flour. It was introduced at Vincennes before October 1752 when mentioned in the stock inventory and was in production in three sizes in 1753. This is a gobelet litron and soucoupe of the first and largest size, with Savill's handle shape B, and tooling on gilding no. 72. See Documentation.

School or Style

Louis XVI

People, subjects and objects depicted

Components of the work

Decoration composed of ground colour ( bleu nouveau or beau bleu) enamels ( purplish-blue, yellowish green, yellow ochre, red, brown, and black) gold
Saucer Diameter 14.6 cm Height 3.8 cm
Cup Rim Diameter 7.2 cm
Cup Height 7.5 cm
Cup Including Handle Width 9.7 cm

Materials used in production

presumed lead-glaze Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Moulding : Soft-paste porcelain painted in enamels, and gilded.
Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing qq

  • Location: On base of both pieces
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark
  • Text: C with a comma or dot on either side and a commabelow
  • Location: On base of both pieces, below factory mark
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark

Inscription present: in script capitals

  • Text: LG
  • Location: On base of both pieces, below the inscription
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Gilder's mark
  • Text: 38
  • Location: On the base of both pieces
  • Method of creation: Incised
  • Type: Incised mark

Inscription present: the u was missed out and has been written above the r of coronne with a short dash over it

  • Text: Faisan couronne./des Indes
  • Location: On the cup
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Inscription
  • Text: Le mâle, appelle/le Pape
  • Location: On the saucer
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Inscription

Inscription present: rectangular white paper label now buff

  • Text: Formerly the property/of the/Earl of Balfour KG. PC.
  • Location: On the base of saucer
  • Method of creation: Hand-written in faded black ink
  • Type: Label

Inscription present: rectangular white paper label, now buff; date crossed out

  • Text: printed SEVRES ; hand-written, Painter Castel/Date -----/Gilder Le Guay
  • Location: On base above factory mark
  • Method of creation: Printed in black and hand-written in faded black ink
  • Type: Label

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.64 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 93767
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Tuesday 12 January 2021 Last processed: Friday 8 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) "Gobelet litron et soucoupe" Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/93767 Accessed: 2024-11-05 18:59:56

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:

{{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/object/93767 |title=Gobelet litron et soucoupe |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-05 18:59:56|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/api/v1/objects/object-93767

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/aa/aa23/C_64_20_26_20A_1961_20_281_29.jpg"
        alt="Gobelet litron et soucoupe"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Gobelet litron et soucoupe</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>
    

Sign up for updates

Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...