Skip Ribbon Commands
Skip to main content
Seattle Art Museum (SAM)
menu

Chocolate cup

Chocolate cup

ca. 1750

The lush still-life subjects of fruit on these wares pay homage to the rich agricultural valleys near Naples, where the Capodimonte factory was founded. Princess Maria Amalia, the granddaughter of Augustus the Strong, the great patron of the Meissen factory, arrived for her wedding to Charles, King of Naples, with a dowry that included no fewer than seventeen Meissen porcelain table services. The founding of a porcelain factory became a goal of the royal couple in addition to their patronage of other aspects of the decorative arts. Their factory was founded on the grounds of the royal palace at Capodimonte in 1743. Charles also founded an academy of design and a tapestry factory. Porcelain, after hunting, became his passion.
Soft paste porcelain
3 1/2 in. (9 cm), height
4 1/8 in. (10.48 cm), width
3 3/16 in. (8.1 cm), diameter
Dorothy Condon Falknor Collection of European Ceramics
87.142.63
location
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, illus. p. 10, no. 11, p. 23

Emerson, Julie, Jennifer Chen, & Mimi Gardner Gates, "Porcelain Stories, From China to Europe", Seattle Art Museum, 2000, pg. 145

Seattle Art Museum respectfully acknowledges that we are on Indigenous land, the traditional territories of the Coast Salish people. We honor our ongoing connection to these communities past, present, and future.

Learn more about Equity at SAM