Cup and saucer 1822 - 1840

This cup and saucer was made at the Royal Porcelain Manufactory, likely in the late 18th or early 19th century. Porcelain is fascinating stuff; a mix of fine white clay and powdered rock, fired at extremely high temperature to create a hard, translucent material. Porcelain allowed for delicate forms and smooth surfaces perfect for painting, as we see here. The scenes of fashionable life painted onto the cup, along with the gilded details, speak to a culture of courtly display, a society increasingly defined by its patterns of consumption. Consider the amount of labour involved, from mining the raw materials to the skilled artistry of the painting. The Royal Porcelain Manufactory was established under royal patronage. Objects like these reflect the close relationship between production, aesthetic refinement, and social status. It prompts us to consider the hands that shaped it, and the world that it represents.