Made by a Parisian goldsmith, this diminutive but superbly crafted gold egg cup is a masterpiece of early Neoclassical design and ornament in the Greek taste ('goût grec'). The egg cup is very similar to a sketch of a vase in an album of designs (mostly for boxes) associated with the workshop of the goldsmith Jean Ducrollay. It probably formed part of a larger assemblage of vessels and utensils known as a 'nécessaire'. The term, which appeared in the early eighteenth century, was a broad one, and could refer to writing sets, sewing kits or to a boxed set of tablewares essential to the preparation of a light meal. In 1776, Louis XVI's Queen, Marie Antoinette, commissioned a 'nécessaire' for her palace of Trianon, at Versailles. The service included two gilded silver egg cups as well as numerous dishes, a mustard pot (with its spoon) and a sugar bowl.