18th Century Sevres Cup and Saucer
View Similar Items
18th Century Sevres Cup and Saucer
About the Item
- Creator:Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres (Maker)
- Dimensions:Height: 2.76 in (7 cm)Diameter: 3.15 in (8 cm)
- Sold As:Set of 2
- Style:Louis XVI (Of the Period)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:circa 1780
- Condition:Wear consistent with age and use. Minor structural damages. Minor fading. The cup and saucer are both in very good condition with just slight colour fading. No apparent cracks or chips. The measurements of the cup are Height:7cm Diameter: 8cm. The saucer measures Dia:15cm.
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:Seller: Sevres cup and saucer1stDibs: LU2348311682831
Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres
A maker of exemplary European ceramics for hundreds of years, Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres has produced porcelain of the highest quality since 1740.
The factory enjoyed royal patronage from its earliest days, and its most prominent patrons in the late 1700s — King Louis XV of France and his mistress, Madame de Pompadour — commissioned some of the period’s most elegant and striking pieces (only the truly wealthy could afford porcelain at this time). The company was originally established in Vincennes but was moved at the request of Madame de Pompadour, in 1756, to Sèvres, near Versailles, so that its operations would be closer to her château.
Sèvres became a mighty and much-revered factory working under a special grant from King Louis XV — the company’s owner as of 1759 and whose abundance of orders for special state gifts put financial strain on the company. Madame de Pompadour is said to have commissioned Sèvres to create an entire indoor garden of porcelain botanicals, for example.
While Sèvres gained a sterling reputation for its soft-paste porcelain wares, the company was late in entering into the production of hard-paste porcelain.
Hard-paste porcelain is the most common type of Chinese porcelain, then a widely exported and profitable product that was not made in Europe until the 18th century. The resources at Sèvres were largely relegated to meeting the demands of Louis XV, and secondly, it did not acquire the secret formula for hard-paste porcelain until 1761. Until it obtained the coveted secrets behind hard-paste porcelain from a chemist named Pierre-Antoine Hannong — and, years later, gained access to the elusive raw materials to make hard-paste porcelain — Sèvres produced soft-paste porcelain for decades that was widely celebrated but is comparatively a far weaker type as opposed to the hard-paste productions of the company’s rival, Meissen, in Saxony, the first to produce true porcelain outside of Asia.
The artisans at Sèvres applied the rarest and most difficult-to-produce colors to their decorative objects and dinner services. One such color, the bright bleu de roi, became the manufacturer’s signature shade and is found on many of their objects. Sèvres also experimented with rarely glazed or unglazed works that bore no decoration at all — bisque porcelain, French for “biscuit,” refers to unadorned white porcelain sculptures made at Sèvres that resemble white marble after being kiln-fired.
Sèvres marks were applied over the glaze or rendered with cuts by a sharp tool — authentic Sèvres porcelain is most commonly marked with two interlaced Ls that are painted in blue and enclose a third letter. Painters and potters were tasked with affixing marks to record their role in the creation of a particular piece, and as a lot of these artisans’ names are recorded in archival factory materials — and there is also much to be learned at the Sèvres museum — it’s likely that you can accurately identify your Sèvres piece.
Find antique and vintage Manufacture Nationale de Sèvres vases, urns, sculptures and more on 1stDibs.
- Sevres Hand Painted Matched Porcelain Cabinet Cup and SaucerBy Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Bishop's Stortford, HertfordshireA fine antique French matched hand painted porcelain cabinet cup and saucer painted with various scenes by Sevres and dating from the latter 19th century. ...Category
Antique Late 19th Century French Late Victorian Tea Sets
MaterialsPorcelain
- Set of Six 18th Century Flight Worcester Porcelain Tea Cups and SaucersBy Flight, Barr & Barr WorcesterLocated in Philadelphia, PAA set of six antique Flight Worcester porcelain cups and saucers. Each with a ribbed swirl design and cobalt blue and gold floral sprig and garland decoration. Each base is mar...Category
Antique Late 18th Century Great Britain (UK) George III Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Sèvres French Porcelain Hand Painted Teacup and Saucer with Bird Scenes, 1791By Manufacture Nationale de SèvresLocated in Bishop's Stortford, HertfordshireAn exceptional and rare Sèvres Porcelain cabinet teacup and saucer each hand painted with birds within a landscape in coloured enamels and set...Category
Antique 1790s French Louis XVI Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
$4,385 / setFree Shipping - 19th Century Meissen Hand Painted Cup and SaucerBy Meissen PorcelainLocated in Lambertville, NJDiminutive whimsical 19th century Meissen cup and saucer. The purple trim with gilt decoration with birds and insects. The saucer is 5 inches in...Category
Antique 19th Century German Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- 18th Century First Period Worcester Porcelain Coffee Can and SaucerBy 1st Period Worcester Dr. WallLocated in Downingtown, PAFirst Period Worcester porcelain coffee can and saucer, circa 1772-1775 The fluted Worcester porcelain coffee can and saucer are finely painted with a central reserve with a land...Category
Antique 1770s Georgian Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain
- Early 19th Century Biedermeier Period Topographical Porcelain Cup and SaucerBy Meissen PorcelainLocated in Philadelphia, PAA fine antique German Biedermeier period topographical porcelain cup and saucer. The front decorated with a finely hand painted depiction o...Category
Antique 19th Century German Biedermeier Porcelain
MaterialsPorcelain