A Pair of Rare Qianlong Famille Rose Porcelain Reversible Egg Cups.
A Pair of Rare Qianlong Famille Rose Porcelain Reversible Egg Cups, Jingdezhen Kilns c.1760-1770. These delicate Chinese export porcelain egg cups are gilded on the rim of the oval section as well as the rim of the circular section, normally only the section on show would be gilded to the rim. However, these egg cups are reversible, so both rims required gilding. Eggs were a regular part of dining in 18th century Europe, in France, and other Latin European countries boiled eggs were served upright. In Germany cups were made to hold the egg horizontally. The present examples are based on metal prototypes from Germany, see below for a silver-gilt example made in around 1700, sold at Christie’s in New York on the 6th of February 2025. The Famille Rose decoration of loose groups of garden flowers, reflect European taste at the time, flowers like this were used on many types of European porcelain, however they are primarily associated with decoration at the Meissen factory in Germany. For a metal example sold at Christie’s see German Reversible Egg Cup
See Below For More Photographs and Information.
SALE PENDING
- Condition
- One egg cup restuck through stem (see close up photograph below), some wear to the gilded rims.
- Size
- Height 5.9 cm (2.3 inches). Width 6 cm (2.5 inches).
- Provenance
- Santos London, label for Santos London and British Antique Dealers' Association to both of these egg cups.
- Stock number
- 27147
- References
- See below for a silver-gilt example made in around 1700, sold at Christie's in New York on the 6th of February 2025.
Photos
Information
A CONTINENTAL SILVER-GILT DOUBLE-SIDED EGG CUP
POSSIBLY GERMAN, LATE 17TH/EARLY 18TH CENTURY
On ovoid foot with baluster stem, the circular cup later engraved with coat-of-arms beneath a marquess' coronet, in a later fitted case, apparently unmarked
2 ¾ in. (7 cm.) high
Though unmarked, the present egg cup is almost identical in form to a number of other examples by Augsburg silversmiths. An early example engraved with overlapping feather patterns to both bowls by Johan II Leser dated 1690-1694 is illustrated in I. Heller, Europäische Goldschmiedearbeiten 1650-1860, Munich, 2003, p. 87, no. 57. Another example by Paul Solanier dated 1731-1733 was sold from the Collection of H.R.H. The Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon at Christie's, London, 14 June 2006, lot 7213. German Reversible Egg Cup
An 18th Century Chantilly Porcelain Egg cup.
Robert McPherson Antiques - Sold Archive - 24613
