Cup and saucer
Medium
Soft-paste porcelain
Dimensions
Height (cup .222): 2 3/4 in. (7 cm); Diameter (saucer .223): 5 1/4 in. (13.3 cm)
Classification
Ceramics-Porcelain
Culture
Italian, Naples
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Hans Syz Collection, Gift of Stephan B. Syz and John D. Syz, 1995
Accession Number
1995.268.222, .223
Tags
Art Historical Context
Step into the refined world of 18th Neapolitan luxury with this delicate cup and saucer from Capodimonte Por Manufactory, crafted around 1745. Produced in soft-paste porcelain—a friable yet translucent material that mimicked prized Chinese hard-paste porcelain—this pair exemplifies early Italian efforts to master the medium. cup stands just 2¾ inches tall, while the saucer measures 5¼ inches across, perfect for intimate aristocratic tea rituals. Founded in 1743 by Charles of Bourbon, King of Naples, at the Palazzo Reale di Capodimonte, the manufactory quickly rivaled Europe's elite producers ...