Cup and saucer 1770 - 1780

This cup and saucer were made at the Doccia Porcelain Manufactory in Italy, which operated from 1737 to 1896. Porcelain is a refined material, made by firing selected clays at high temperature. It becomes a bright, white, smooth and non-porous surface, perfect for refined decoration such as we see here. The cup and saucer are decorated with delicate floral patterns in pink and green, applied by hand using small brushes. The rims are gilded. These decorative details speak to the fashion for fine china in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, when tea and coffee drinking became fashionable. Tea ceremonies called for porcelain wares, making them a desired commodity. Though industrially produced, items like these were still mostly hand-made, representing many hours of skilled labour. Considering the intense work involved in mining the clay, forming, firing, and decorating the porcelain, it’s clear that even a simple cup and saucer like this one embodies a huge amount of social and economic activity. It is far more than a simple vessel for enjoying a cup of tea.