Coffee cup (part of a service) 1760 - 1765

This porcelain cup and saucer was produced at the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory in Germany, which began production in 1747. This gilded service exists at the intersection of luxury and the pastoral. On the saucer, we see a woman, perhaps a milkmaid, drawing water from a well, a child at her side, sheep at her feet. In the 18th century, the evocation of pastoral life was a popular motif, though the reality of peasant life was far from the romanticized version depicted here. The whiteness of the porcelain, the gilding on both pieces, and the subject matter depicted on the saucer all speak to the tastes and desires of the wealthy. The cup and saucer suggest a life of leisure and privilege, steeped in both the aesthetic and the social conventions of its time.