Cup and saucer (2) - Porcelain - Litron Cup & Saucer

Beautiful French porcelain cup and saucer from the period 1800-1820. The set was manufactured in Paris in the Louis XVI style and decorated with a motif of gray ribbon meanders against a gray-brown ground, a gold circle and friezes with pink roses with green leaves. In the center of the saucer a gold star on a white background. The maker of this early 19th-century porcelain is unfortunately unknown. The set is unmarked. Louis XVI style.

Dimensions:
- cup: 6.2 x 6 x 8 cm
- saucer: 13 x 3 cm

Condition: The saucer is in good condition with slight wear to the decoration (see photos). The cup has been restored, with a hairline crack, two small glued-in chips, and a repaired handle (old restoration) (see photos).

The gobelet litron (litron cup) was the most common form of teacup produced at the Sèvres factory. It was first mentioned in the factory inventories in 1752 and is still produced. The gobelet litron was characterized by a distinctive, straight, cylindrical form and had a wide variety of handles.
The name is derived from the ‘litron’, a traditional wooden measure used to gauge salt, grain, flour and peas. In 1670 a litron was typically 9.4 cm high and had a diameter of 10.3 cm.
The gobelet litron had both a practical and a decorative purpose. These cups belonged to the earliest ‘usable objects’ produced in the factory, but were also “intended as striking trinkets to display.”

The gobelet litron is often accompanied by a deep, steep saucer. It is suggested that one reason for the depth and large size of these saucers was that people often poured tea from the cup into the saucer to cool it: “I poured it little by little from the cup into the saucer... like everyone” (Comme tout le monde: ... je le versai par petites parties de ma tasse dans ma soucoupe; Abbé Cosson).