Cup from a tea service for twelve 1807 - 1808

This is a hard-paste porcelain cup, made in France by Christophe-Ferdinand Caron in the late 18th or early 19th century, probably in Paris. As part of a tea service for twelve, this cup speaks to the rise of bourgeois culture in France during this period. Tea was an expensive import and drinking it became a fashionable social ritual. By the time this cup was made, porcelain manufacture was no longer the sole preserve of royalty. The decoration includes a wolf eyeing up a sheep in a pastoral landscape. How might we interpret the cultural references within this scene? Was the wolf seen as a symbol of danger? And the sheep as a symbol of innocence? Perhaps the cup served as a conversation piece at a tea party, where guests might debate the symbolism, or perhaps the owner wished to project an image of wealth. The cultural historian can consult sources from the period, such as etiquette manuals and trade records, to illuminate the values and assumptions of the society in which this object was made and used.