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Cup with socketed saucer: MAR.C.36 & A-1912

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Object information

Current Location: Gallery 26 (Lower Marlay)

Titles

Cup with socketed saucer

Maker(s)

Factory: Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory
Painter: Buteux, Charles

Entities

  • Cup
  • Saucer
  • Factory name: gobelet et soucoupe enfoncé
  • trembleuse cup and saucer

Categories

Description

Soft-paste porcelain cup and socketed saucer, painted in enamels with trophies, and gilded

Soft-paste porcelain painted in blue, green, yellow, dark pink, pale purple, brown, and black enamels and gilding. The bucket-shaped cup has a double entwined branch handle. The saucer is circular with a narrow, deep cylindrical well, and a wide rim, curving upwards slightly at the edge. It has a suspension hole in the footrim. Both pieces have a white ground. The cup has two almost circular reserves framed by bands of gilding tooled with panels of criss-cross alternating with panels of striations. One reserve is painted with a trophy, comprising a book of music, tambourine, a recorder, an houlette, an arrow, and a basket with a pink bow on its handle, and a garland of flowerst. The other has a trophy comprising a quiver of arrows, a bow and an arrow, a torch an oboe (?), and a garland of flowers. Between the trophies, round the upper edge of the cup there is a border of gilded scrolls, and panels of dots and trellis diaper patterns. There is a band of gilding round the foot, a dentilated band round the lip and touches of gilding on the handle, whose terminals are heavily gilded. The saucer is decorated en suite with two kidney-shaped reserves containing trophies. One comprises a shield, quiver of arrows, spear, an arrow, a sword, a laurel wreath and a spray of flowers and foliage; the other, a woman's broad-brimmed hat with two feathers in it, a distaff, an houlette, and a garland of flowers. The edge of the well has a scalloped and dotted gold border

Notes

History note: Unknown before donor

Legal notes

C.B. Marlay Bequest

Place(s) associated

  • Sèvres ⪼ France

Acquisition and important dates

Method of acquisition: Bequeathed (1912) by Marlay, Charles Brinsley

Dating

18th Century, Mid#
Production date: AD 1766 : Both pieces bear the date letter for 1766

Note

The trophies are typical of those painted by Charles Buteux, père ainé, ( working at Sèvres 1756 until 1782), who specialized in trophies, although he also executed other kinds of decoration, such as landscapes, cherubs, and various border patterns.

This is a cup with socketed saucer of the first size. The cup is similar to a gobelet à la reine and the socketed saucer, referred to as having 'le milieu enfoncé' was introduced in 1759. It was probably intended to be used by people who were ill for taking milk or milk drinks. See Documentation, Savill, 1988.

School or Style

Rococo

Components of the work

Decoration composed of enamels ( blue, green, yellow, dark pink, pale purple, brown, and black)
Decoraiton composed of gold
Saucer Diameter 15.4 cm Height 4.2 cm
Cup Rim Diameter 8.6 cm cm
Cup Height 8.8 cm
Cup Including Handle Width 10.8 cm

Materials used in production

presumed lead-glaze Lead-glaze
Soft-paste porcelain

Techniques used in production

Lead-glazing

Inscription or legends present

  • Text: 2, O
  • Location: On base of cup
  • Method of creation: Incised underglaze
  • Type: Incised mark

Inscription present: AR joined back to back

  • Text: AR C or 6
  • Location: On base of cup
  • Method of creation: Incised underglaze
  • Type: Incised mark
  • Text: 8
  • Location: On base of saucer
  • Method of creation: Incised underglaze
  • Type: Incised mark
  • Text: interlaced Ls enclosing N
  • Location: On base of both pieces
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Factory mark
  • Text: an anchor
  • Location: On base of both pieces below the factory mark
  • Method of creation: Painted in blue enamel
  • Type: Painter's mark

References and bibliographic entries

Identification numbers

Accession number: MAR.C.36 & A-1912
Primary reference Number: 82597
Stable URI

Audit data

Created: Saturday 6 August 2011 Updated: Wednesday 20 January 2021 Last processed: Thursday 7 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) "Cup with socketed saucer" Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/82597 Accessed: 2024-11-02 20:13:15

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{{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/object/82597 |title=Cup with socketed saucer |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-11-02 20:13:15|publisher=The University of Cambridge}}

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