Old Paris porcelain coffee can and saucer, each piece with pink enamel ground, the can with black wreaths encircling a gilt swan; the saucer with similar wreaths and neoclassical motifs. The saucer unmarked. The can with an unascribed underglaze blue mark and incised 'M' or 'W'.

This beautiful cup and saucer is almost certainly French. The swan was Josephine's symbol and the wreath had militaristic overtones, suggestive of Napoleon. On the other hand, these motifs were by no means unique to France and indeed were common all over Europe (and America) during the early 19th c. The marks on French porcelain are well recorded and the underglaze blue mark on the can is absent from the literature, suggesting a German, Russian or other origin. The incised mark is probably a modeler's mark.

France c. 1810
Saucer 5" diameter

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