Coffee cup

ca. 1744

These rare coffee cups portray three types of Asian-inspired decoration on European porcelain of the eighteenth century. The white cup with relief-molded prunus decoration represents blanc de chine. The cup with enameled black panels alternating with flowers is in the famille noire style inspired by Chinese porcelain decorated with a black ground color, which was produced during the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722). The Japanese Kakiemon-style quail pattern, with its character-istic palette, is the design source for the center cup.

Hard paste porcelain

2 3/8 in. (6 cm), height

3 1/4 in. (8.26 cm), width

2 9/16 in. (6.51 cm), diameter

Dorothy Condon Falknor Collection of European Ceramics

87.142.129

Now on view at the Seattle Art Museum

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Porcelain Stories: From China to Europe", February 17, 2000-May 7, 2000 (2/17/2000 - 5/7/2000)

Published ReferencesEmerson, Julie. "Coffee, Tea and Chocolate Wares in the Collection of the Seattle Art Museum." Seattle, WA: Seattle Art Museum, 1991, no. 12, p. 24

Emerson, Julie, Jennifer Chen, & Mimi Gardner Gates, "Porcelain Stories, From China to Europe", Seattle Art Museum, 2000, pg. 159

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