Tea and Coffee Service

The early 19th century is often considered the golden age of Paris-made porcelain. Numerous firms were established in and around the city. Privately supported rather than state subsidized, these firms varied in size and success, with some undergoing several changes in ownership and name over relatively short periods. What eventually became the Denuelle Porcelain Manufactory had originally been established by an Englishman on the Rue de Crussol in 1792. After changing hands more than once, the factory was acquired in 1818 by the chemist Benjamin Cadet de Vaux and the porcelain maker and painter Auguste Dominique Denuelle, who became the sole proprietor in 1820. Although the factory survived only until 1829, it produced some outstanding work and enjoyed the special protection of the Duchesse de Berry, daughter-in-law of the French king.

This remarkable tea and coffee service dates from around 1820, when the Denuelle factory was at its artistic and technological peak. Its dark blue ground, gilding, and enamel colors recalls 18th-century Sèvres porcelain, but it also has qualities that mark it as uniquely of its time, particularly the lavish use of gold on the interiors of each vessel and to describe the figures, the whimsical architecture, and the delicate landscapes. The playful vignettes meld visions of China and Turkey as filtered through the European imagination.