Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery

Cup and Saucer

ca. 1780-1800 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Cup and saucer of hard-paste porcelain painted with red enamel and gilded. Painted with fighting cocks, a tree with feather-like leaves, and rocks.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 2 parts.

  • Cups
  • Saucer
Materials and techniques
Hard-paste porcelain painted with red enamel and gilded
Brief description
Cup and saucer of hard-paste porcelain, Doccia porcelain factory, Doccia, ca. 1780-1800.
Physical description
Cup and saucer of hard-paste porcelain painted with red enamel and gilded. Painted with fighting cocks, a tree with feather-like leaves, and rocks.
Gallery label
CUP AND SAUCER Porcelain ITALY (DOCCIA); about 1760 Gift of Mr M. Yeats Brown C.M.G. C.676 & A-1917 (Label draft attributed to John V. G. Mallet, ca. 1995)(ca. 1995)
Credit line
Given by Mr M. Yeats Brown, CMG
Subjects depicted
Bibliographic reference
Frescobaldi Malenchini, Livia ed. With Balleri, Rita and Rucellai, Oliva, ‘Amici di Doccia Quaderni, Numero VII, 2013, The Victoria and Albert Museum Collection’, Edizioni Polistampa, Firenze, 2014 pp. 85-86, Cat.67 67. Cup and saucer decorated with red cockerels circa 1780-1800 hard-paste porcelain with tin-glaze decorated in red and gold cup h 6,5 cm; saucer diam. 13,1 cm no mark inv. C.676&A-1917 gift: Mr M. Yeats Brown, C.M.G. Bibliography: LANE 1954, plate 49B; LANE 1963, plate 112 The cups with saucers, one of which does not match (cat. 66), are decorated in red and gold with a motif that is called “a galli rossi”(red cockerels). This type of decoration of Asian origin was made in green, black, blue, red, and red and blue with or without gold highlights. The first record of the use of this decoration is in the year 1747 and refers to cockerels painted in black (AGL, XV, 2, f. 138, Manifattura di Doccia. Documenti vari, c. 484); on October 24th of the same year, the painter Ferdinando Campostrini, who was active at the factory from 1741 to 1747, is mentioned as follows: “Campostrini remade the cockerel services that had been sold” (AGL, XII, 3, f. 13, Ginori Sen. Carlo. Lettere diverse dirette al medesimo. 1747-1748, c. 90v). Later, fromat least 1759, the painters Antonio Carraresi, called “il Zoppo”, active at the factory from 1743 to 1764, and Francesco (or Franco) Pintucci, mentioned in documents from 1754 to 1784, are the artists appointed to execute the cockerel decoration (AGL,XV, 2, f. 138, Manifattura di Doccia. Documenti vari, fasc. 2). Afterwards, starting in about 1774, the decoration was executed by Giovan Battista Buonamici, active from 1747 to 1784, and Francesco Biagiotti, active from1754 to 1784 (for further information on the painters at Doccia, see BIANCALANA 2007, p. 32-59).The production lists drawn up from1780 to 1788 show that this decoration was still in use, a demonstration of its longevity. There is a difference between the coffee services where it is also executed in blue, red and gold and the tableware which were produced only in red and gold (AGL, I, 2, f. 37, Fabbrica delle Porcellane di Doccia. Scritture eDocumenti, fasc. 20). The shape of the segmented handle of the cup (cat. 66), suggests that it was made about 1770 (see also cat. 79), while the saucer, which has the impressed star mark on the back must have been made after 1790 (GINORI LISCI 1963, p. 320). The dating of the set (cat. 67) is based on the characteristics of the clay and the tapered shape of the cup which appeared in the last quarter of the 18th century. A.B.
Collection
Accession number
C.676&A-1917

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Record createdJune 24, 2009
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