Cup and saucer
Medium
Hard-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height (cup .19a): 2 7/8 in. (7.3 cm); Diameter (saucer .19b): 5 3/4 in. (14.6 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
German, Berlin
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Henry G. Marquand, 1894
Accession Number
94.4.19a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate cup and saucer, by the prestigious Royal Porcelain Manuf in Berlin between 1803 and 1810, exemplifies the height of early 19th-century European porcelain artistry. Designed with input from the renowned neoclassical painter Angelicaauffmann, it features hard-paste porcelain—a technically advanced medium prized for its durability, transluc, and ability to rival fine china from Asia. Measuring just 2⅞ inches tall for the cup and 5¾ inches across the saucer, these everyday objects were elevated to luxury status through intricate painting and gilding. The decoration draws from the ti...
About the Artist
Angelica Kauffmann|Royal Porcelain Manufactory, Berlin · 1741–1807
Swiss painter and etcher, and one of the few women artists of the time working in the Neo-Classical style to specialize in both portraits and subject pictures. Her famous sitters include the family of George III in Britain, Grand-Duke Paul and Prince Nikolay Yusupov in Russia, Stanislav II Poniatowski and Stanislav Kostka Potocki in Poland, Queen Caroline of Naples and Emperor Joseph II of Austria...