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 imageCreative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.
Gobelet litron et soucoupe
Factory:
Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter:
Noël, Guillaume
Soft-paste porcelain cup and saucer, with a mauve ground, painted in blue, green, and pink enamels with cornflower and rose sprays in reserves, and gilded.
Soft-paste porcelain decorated with a mauve ground, and painting in blue, green, pink and mauve enamels, and gilding Cylindrical cup with arched and incurved handle. Circular saucer with flat central area and deep sloping sides. There is a suspension hole in the footring of the saucer. Both pieces have a mauve ground decorated with blue and gold oeil-de-perdrix. The cup has two large oval reserves framed by a plain gold band, each painted in blue, mauve and green with a cornflower spray, surrounded by an oval garland of pink roses, small blue flowers and green leaves. Between them there are two smaller oval reserves, each painted in blue, mauve, and green with a cornflower spray, and framed by two gilt bands. There are gold bands round the foot and rim and lines of gilding down the sides of the handle, which also has a stylised leaf, two husks and dots down its back. The saucer has a small circular reserve in the centre framed by a narrow and a wider gilt band. Its ground matches the cup, but the oiel-de-perdrix are of graduated size radiating from the centre.The sides are decorated with three large and three small oval reserves painted en suite with those on the cup. There is a band of gilding round the rim and another round the exterior of the foot.
History note: Alfred de Rothschild; purchased from Mallet & Sons, London for £35 in 1929 by Louis C.G. Clarke, Cambridge
L.C.G. Clarke Bequest, 1960
Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1960) by Clarke, Louis Colville Gray
18th Century, Late
Louis XVI
Production date:
AD 1779
The gobelet litron was named after a cubic measure, the litron, which was normally made of wood, and was used for dry stuffs, such as corn and peas. Its size in Paris had been defined in 1670 as the equivalent of 9.45 cm high and 10.15 cm in diameter in pouces and lignes, which was larger than the largest of the porcelain cups. The first size of gobelet litron had been introduced at Vincennes before October 1752 when it was mentioned in an inventory of stock, but was probably being made earlier (records are lacking).The second and third sizes followed in 1753, and the fourth and fifth in 1757. They could be fitted with one of seven different handle forms . A drawing in the archives at Sèvres is dated 19 February 1753 (MNS, R1, liasse 2, dossier 2, No. 6bis) They were supplied singly, singly with a plateau carré, in ’harlequin’ sets, or as part of matching dejeuner. (See Documentation, Préaux 1991, Savill, 1988, Bellaigue 2009)
This is a gobelet litron of the third size with Savill's handle shape B (see Documentation). Lilac, mauve, violet, and purple for grounds were fashionable from 1773 throughout the reign of Louis XVI.
Decoration
composed of
enamels
( blue, green, pink and mauve)
ground colour
( mauve)
gold
Saucer
Diameter 12.5 cm
Height 3.1 cm
Cup Rim
Diameter 5.6 cm
Cup
Height 5.9 cm
Cup With Handle
Width 7.5 cm
Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain
Moulding
: Soft-paste porcelain decorated with a mauve ground, painting in blue, green, pink and mauve enamels, and gilding
Lead-glazing
Inscription present: interlaced L's enclosing BB
Inscription present: horizontal line, and line above it with an arc in the middle
Inscription present: rectangular white paper label
Inscription present: rectangular white paper label
Inscription present: square paper label with the top line of the inscription torn away
Accession number: C.50 & A-1961
Primary reference Number: 75312
Stable URI
Owner or interested party:
The Fitzwilliam Museum
Associated department:
Applied Arts
This record can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:
Mirador deep zoom
IIIF Manifest
The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024) "Gobelet litron et soucoupe" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/75312 Accessed: 2024-12-22 09:28:09
To cite this record on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:
{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/75312
|title=Gobelet litron et soucoupe
|author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-22 09:28:09|publisher=The
University of Cambridge}}
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-75312
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_50_20_26_20A_1961.jpg"
alt="Gobelet litron et soucoupe"
class="img-fluid" />
<figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Gobelet litron et soucoupe</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
Updates about future exhibitions and displays, family activities, virtual events & news. You'll be the first to know...
