- Museum number
- 1936,0715.135.CR
- Description
-
Cup and Saucer (tasse litron); hard-paste porcelain; the cup heavily potted; deep saucer with flared sides, straight-sided cup with scroll handle out-turned at its lower end; the sides of the saucer and exterior of cup are painted in pink, yellow, purple, white, green and black with marguerites on a gold ground; on the well and exterior of saucer is a gilt pattern of stylised leaves alternating with paterae and leaves; interior of cup gilt (doublé d'or); maker's mark.
- Production date
- 1793-1797 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Diameter: 13.10 centimetres (saucer)
-
Height: 6.10 centimetres (cup)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Text from Dawson 1994:
This cup is a most luxurious production, and was certainly not intended for use. The devices on the bases indicate that the pieces were made for William Beckford (1760-1844) perhaps as a special order around 1810 when his daughter Susan married Alexander, later 10th Duke of Hamilton (1767-1853). Beckford owned gold ground cups and saucers painted with flowers, but none of the six in his sale in 1822 can be identified with this example (see cat. 268, f.n. 1). The later history of the Museum cup has not been established.
A slightly less opulent version of this décor occurs on a cup and saucer painted with poppies, harebells, daisies, cornflowers, grasses, etc., on a pale grey ground. The interior of the cup is not gilt (Frégnac [ed], 1964, p. 306, Musée national Adrien-Dubouché, Limoges, inv. ADI. 1424).
Flowers on a gold ground occur on two cups from the Derby factory during the Duesbury and Kean period (about 1795-6) (J. Twitchett, Derby Porcelain, London, 1980, p. 151, fig. 34)
Supplementary Information:
The heraldic devices on the base are the heron with fish of the Beckford family, and the ducal coronet bearing oak tree with saw which is the Hamilton ducal coronet. These indicate that the piece was made for William Beckford (1760-1844) who was assigned the additional Hamilton crest in 1798 (see Derek E.Ostergard (ed), 'William Beckford. 'An Eye for the Magnificent', Bard Graduate Centre, 2001, p. 320).
The cup and saucer are part of a larger group commissioned by Beckford from Dihl & Guérhard while he was living in Paris in the years up to 1797, when he fled to London (see Ostergard, op. cit., p.331, for other cups and saucers in this group, and p. 102 for Beckford's direct orders placed with other porcelain factories at the time). They were most probably made at the end of this period. The stamp on the base was used on pieces made in the years 1789 to 1797 (see Plinval de Guillebon).
The many references to French porcelain in the descriptions of Fonthill and the later sale catalogue, which are quoted in Aileen Dawson's catalogue entry for 1926,1016.1, show that Beckford had specifically commissioned works to be painted by Cornelis van Spaendonck (1756-1840) who was the artistic director at Sèvres for many years, including the years 1795-1800. This however cannot have precluded him from doing private work for Beckford. The descriptions of the pieces painted by him in the Fonthill sale catalogues match this cup and saucer precisely, with flowers on a gold ground. Beckford, who had superb taste, must have wished to make use of van Spaendonck's abilities as the leading flower painter of the day in France, but was unable to do so through Sèvres (which was a state factory) and so did so through Dihl and Guérhard instead.
(J. Rudoe, February 2021).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1936
- Department
- Britain, Europe and Prehistory
- Registration number
- 1936,0715.135.CR
