Cup and saucer

Meissen Manufactory|Böttger Period

1717–20 · Hard-paste porcelain · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

The Meissen factory, established outside Dresden in 1710, was the first in Europe to discover the formula for hard-paste porcelain. This coffee cup with saucer is one of the earliest manufactured at Meissen. It is decorated with a metallic luster glaze in the interior of both the cup and the saucer. The gold content of this glaze, which produced the pearly iridescence, made it an expensive type of decoration, underscoring the high status of coffee drinking.

Artist

Meissen Manufactory|Böttger Period

Date

1717–20

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain

Culture

German, Meissen

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Gift of R. Thornton Wilson, in memory of Florence Ellsworth Wilson, 1954