This is an identical replica of a coffee cup made at the Sèvres manufacture in 1773. It represents Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) and is part of a set of two litron cups, one bearing her image and the other of Louis XVI. The cups and saucers are decorated in similar fashion, but with friezes that differ in design.
The A la reine Marie Antoinette coffee cup bears a medallion with a crimson background surrounded by golden palm fronds and, in the center, the queen’s profile painted in “grisaille”, creating the impression of a cameo. Painted by Pithou the Elder, the great refinement of the design emphasizes the details of the face and the lace on her gown, subtly playing up the contrast between light and shadow. The cup and saucer are decorated with a wide frieze of flowers arranged in a scroll pattern, edged at top and bottom with bands of burnished gold, originally the work of a talented gilder at Sèvres named Henri-Francois Vincent the Younger.
The choice of floral motifs celebrates the queen’s elegance and femininity as well as her passion for botany and Nature.
The original of this cup is at the Musée Carnavalet in Paris.
