Footed Stand and Four Cups for Ice Cream

Footed Stand and Four Cups for Ice Cream

Artist Sèvres Porcelain Manufactory (French, founded 1756)

CultureFrench

Date1770

MediumSoft-paste porcelain with overglaze enamels, gilding

Markingsinterlaced Ls enclosing date mark for 1770, painters mark 6

DescriptionThis set of matching handled cups presented on a stand and finely decorated with garlands of flowers would have been used to serve ice cream, the most fashionable dessert of the period. Sèvres responded to this fashion, and frequently included ice cream cups in dessert services from the 1760s onward. The shape of these cups is specifically illustrated in M. Emy’s book on how to make ice cream, L’Art de bien faire des glaces d’Office… (1768), the first single-subject cookbook published in France. Two serving cups are missing from the original set which would have included six cups; nevertheless, the surviving pieces make a cohesive display that can be used to document this fashion.

Credit LineGift of Stephen Brown

Object numberG19.10.4a-e

Classifications

European Ceramics

Sub-classification

French Porcelain

Collections

Status

Not on view