Cup and Saucer
(18th and 19th Centuries )
This cup and saucer are decorated with fanciful scenes of China, a dominant theme in French 18th-century art that reflects the fascination, fear, and awe of that country at the time.
The chinoiserie decoration of this cup and saucer deals with the theme of raising a child. On the cup, a mother plays with a young child; on the border of the saucer, an older child plays on his own, with animals; the center of the saucer shows a father gesticulating before an adolescent son, perhaps teaching him a lesson.
Inscription
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object.
Henry Walters, Baltimore [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
France, Sèvres (Place of Origin)
Measurements
Cup H: 2 5/16 × W: 2 1/4 × D with handles: 3 1/16 in. (5.8 × 5.7 × 7.7 cm); Saucer H: 1 1/8 × Diam: 5 in. (2.9 × 12.7 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
48.649