The Vincennes factory had a connection to the French crown from its inception as it was established in 1740 in the semi-abandoned royal fortress of the château de Vincennes to the east of Paris. There, a handful of porcelain specialists were inspired to start experimenting with porcelain as huge prices were paid by wealthy aristocrats for this glassy white substance which had for the most part had to be imported from East Asia or from the Meissen factory in what is now Germany. It was the Saxon ruler Augustus the Strong who had led the drive in Europe to emulate Chinese porcelains and his factory was established in about 1710. During the early 1740s the majority of the Vincennes factory's products were probably experimental as the porcelain body was still being perfected and different enamel colours were slowly invented. In 1745 however, they secured a royal privilège which granted them the exclusive right to produce porcelain in Meissen style in France. By the late 1740s their products were already accomplished with a wide range of enamel colours in use, followed from 1748 by gilding and ground colours from 1752 onwards. The factory moved to Sèvres to the south-west of Paris in 1756.

This exquisite cup and saucer are decorated with the earliest ground colour inspired by Chinese porcelains and called bleu lapis at the factory. It was invented and used for the first time around 1750. They bear the crossed Ls of the royal cipher which was adopted as the factory mark around this time.