Skip to main content

Coffee cup: C.3134 & A-1928

Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Maker(s)

Factory: Bristol Porcelain Manufactory

Entities

Categories

Description

Hard-paste porcelain coffee cup and saucer, painted in enamels with flowers and the monogram of Sarah Smith, and gilt.

Hard-paste porcelain coffee cup and saucer, glazed, and painted in red, yellow, green and lilac enamels, and gilt. The cup is of double-ogee shape, with a grooved, earshaped handle. The cup and the circular saucer stand on low foot-rings. The cup is painted with the monogram SS in flowerheads, within a gilt oval medallion, which is linked by festoons of berried laurel leaves to two smaller medallions containing the arms of Smith, with Pope in pretence, beneath tooled gilt band and gilt dentil borders. The circular saucer is painted en suite.

Notes

History note: Given by Edmund Burke to Mrs Joseph Smith, 19 Queen Square, Bristol; her daughter, Miss Marianne Smith, 2 Berkeley Crescent, Bristol, by whom given as a wedding present in 1863 to Mrs J.C. Adams (whose husband was Professor J.C. Adams) who gave it to Dr Glaisher on 1 July 1906.

Legal notes

Dr J.W.L. Glaisher Bequest

Place(s) associated

  • Bristol ⪼ England

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1928) by Glaisher, J. W. L., Dr

Dating

18th Century, second half#
George III
Production date: circa AD 1774

Note

Part of a tea service commissioned by Edmund Burke and presented to Sarah Smith (neƩ Pope), wife of Mr Joseph Smith of 19 Queen Square, Bristol, who entertained the Burkes during his election campaign of 1774. It was sold by a descendant in 1873, and was eventually bought by Alfred Trapnell, Bristol. This cup and saucer, however, had been given away previously by Miss Marianne Smith in 1863.

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( red, yellow, green and lilac) gold
Saucer Diameter 13.2 cm Diameter 5 1/8 in Height 2.5 cm Height 1 in
Cup Height 6.2 cm Height 2 3/8 in Width 8.7 cm Width 3 3/8 in

Materials used in production

Glaze
Hard-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Glazing (coating) : Hard-paste porcelain, moulded and decorated overglaze with flowers and the monogram of Sarah Smith in polychrome enamels, and gilt

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: SS monogram
  • Location: On outside of cup
  • Method of creation: Painted
  • Type: Inscription

Inscription present: a cross

  • Text: +
  • Location: Base
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: C.3134 & A-1928
Primary reference Number: 131170
Old object number: 2472, vol. 2
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Thursday 22 November 2012 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) "Coffee cup" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/131170 Accessed: 2024-11-22 03:29:09

Citation for Wikipedia

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

{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/131170 |title=Coffee cup |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-22 03:29:09|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://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/objects/object-131170

Sign up for updates

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