Cup and saucer 1735 - 1745

This cup and saucer was made at the Meissen Manufactory, probably not long after it was established in 1710. As Europe’s first producer of true hard-paste porcelain, Meissen guarded its secrets jealously. The delicate painting on this service imitates the appearance of a monochrome drawing. It’s a classic example of chinoiserie, one of the first European appropriations of Asian design. It’s important to remember that even this type of ornamentation was enabled by a global system of trade and extraction. The same ships that carried tea back to Europe also brought the imagery that decorated luxury wares like this one. The amount of work involved in creating this object is considerable: the mining and preparation of the clay, the design and carving of the molds, the mixing of the glaze, the multiple firings, and of course, the delicate painting. When we focus on the labor involved, we can appreciate this cup and saucer not just as a luxury item, but as a testament to human skill, and a document of early global exchange.