Die Leiden des jungen Werther thumbnail 1
Die Leiden des jungen Werther thumbnail 2
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Image of Gallery in South Kensington
On display at V&A South Kensington
Europe 1600-1815, Room 1

Die Leiden des jungen Werther

Cup
ca. 1790 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The serving of the fashionable hot drinks tea, coffee and chocolate was often the focal point of domestic social rituals in the eighteenth-century. Porcelain tea and coffee sets with matching trays (déjeuners) were made for one or two persons to serve themselves in private apartments. The design and elaboration of the decoration of the sets signalled their owner’s taste and wealth.

Tea and coffee were not served together at the same time, so the same saucers were often used with both tea and coffee cups. The design of tea cups evolved as the eighteenth century progressed, but tea cups were generally lower and more open in shape than coffee cups. However, it is clear from the records at Sèvres that in France at least certain shapes could be used interchangeably for coffee or tea.

This is one of a small number of tea and coffee sets very finely decorated with scenes from Goethe's hugely successful novel The Sorrows of Young Werther first published in 1774. It was made at the Meissen porcelain factory in 1789. All the known services have the same vessel shapes, and certain of the components are painted with the same subjects and scenes. Some of this decoration is after preliminary design drawings by Johann David Schubert (1761-1822), who worked as teacher of drawing at the factory's drawing school from 1786 and who became principal painter at the factory in 1795, and some of Schubert's designs were in turn copied from prints.


Object details

Categories
Object type
Titles
  • Die Leiden des jungen Werther (generic title)
  • The Sorrows of Young Werther (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Hard paste porcelain painted in enamel colours and gilt
Brief description
Cup from a breakfast service, porcelain painted in enamel colours with scenes from Goethe's Sorrows of Young Werther, and gilt; probably painted by Johann David Schubert, made by Meissen porcelain factory, Germany, ca. 1790
Physical description
A tea or coffee cup, part of a breakfast service. Decorated with scenes in round or oval medallions from Die Leiden des jungen Werther [The Sorrows of Young Werther], a novel written in 1774 by Johann Wolfgang Goethe (1749-1832).
Dimensions
  • Height: 4.8cm
  • Width: 9.8cm (Note: Including handle)
Marks and inscriptions
  • Crossed swords with a star (Factory mark, in blue)
  • '42' and a large '3' (Impressed)
  • '4' and 'BI' (In blue)
  • '12 and '13' (In enamel)
Gallery label
Tea and coffee service About 1789 This elaborate service is painted with scenes from Goethe’s hugely successful The Sorrows of Werther (1774). The novel is about a young man torn apart by hopeless passions. It satisfied a late 18th-century liking for a literature of ‘sensibility’, which explored states of human passion, distress and tenderness, and provoked an emotional response in the reader. Germany (Dresden) Made at the Meissen factory Porcelain painted in enamels and gilded(09/12/2015)
Object history
Part of a tea and coffee service (1328 to L-1871).
Historical context
Goethe's novel, The Sorrows of Young Werther became a bestseller soon after its publication. The story parallels elements of Goethe's own experience. Werther falls in love with Lotte, a 19 year old who has already been engaged for four years to Albert, a man 11 years her senior. After failing to distance himself from Lotte and his futile love for her, Werther finally chooses suicide as his only release from his torment.
Literary referenceGoethe, Johann Wolfgang. <font -u>Die Leiden des jungen Werther</font> [The Sorrows of Young Werther], 1774.
Summary
The serving of the fashionable hot drinks tea, coffee and chocolate was often the focal point of domestic social rituals in the eighteenth-century. Porcelain tea and coffee sets with matching trays (déjeuners) were made for one or two persons to serve themselves in private apartments. The design and elaboration of the decoration of the sets signalled their owner’s taste and wealth.

Tea and coffee were not served together at the same time, so the same saucers were often used with both tea and coffee cups. The design of tea cups evolved as the eighteenth century progressed, but tea cups were generally lower and more open in shape than coffee cups. However, it is clear from the records at Sèvres that in France at least certain shapes could be used interchangeably for coffee or tea.

This is one of a small number of tea and coffee sets very finely decorated with scenes from Goethe's hugely successful novel The Sorrows of Young Werther first published in 1774. It was made at the Meissen porcelain factory in 1789. All the known services have the same vessel shapes, and certain of the components are painted with the same subjects and scenes. Some of this decoration is after preliminary design drawings by Johann David Schubert (1761-1822), who worked as teacher of drawing at the factory's drawing school from 1786 and who became principal painter at the factory in 1795, and some of Schubert's designs were in turn copied from prints.
Bibliographic reference
Müller-Scherf, Angelika. <i>Wertherporzellan</i> Petersberg : Michale Imhof Verlag GmbH & Co., 2009 ISBN 9783865684592. Exhibition catalogue, this teacup is catalogue no. 7.7. It illustrates a scene from the final events in the novel. Werther sits at his writing desk looking despairingly ahead with the pistols lying in front of him. His hand is already on the stock of one of them as he prepares to commit suicide. The source is Schubert’s watercolour sketch catalogue 33, p. 143. The same scene is on one of the private collection teacups, 8.6, p. 116.
Collection
Accession number
1328H-1871

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Record createdApril 7, 2004
Record URL
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