Tea set of porcelain in matching mahogany box
Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory, c. 1790
H of box with lid: 26,5; W with handles: 52; D: 41 cm
Inventory number KP 156 a-k
The Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Manufactory produced exclusive tea sets, also called ‘déjeuner’, which comprised ten or fourteen pieces: two or four cups with accompanying saucers, a tray, a teapot, a coffee or chocolate pot, a sugar bowl with a lid, a cream jug with a lid and a waste bowl.
From 1775 until the year 1800, a total of 169 tea sets were created. They comprised a range of different models and bore different decorations, usually polychrome. Several of these sets were bought by the royal family, who mainly used them as gifts. The most expensive sets were delivered in a mahogany box with silk-lined inserts carefully adapted to the individual porcelain pieces.1
The tea set in The David Collection is an example of one of the large sets consisting of fourteen pieces, and its form is the characteristic so-called ‘Antique model’.2 All the pieces are decorated with wide, light green bands featuring gold garlands and framed medallions with pictures of putti in clouds, painted in sepia. They were painted after prints by the French painter François Boucher (1703–1770). The coffee pot, cream pot and sugar bowl are fitted with lids, decorated with gilded knobs shaped like acorns with leaves.
Today, one might easily think that such tea sets were created to be used for picnics. However, this is not the case. They were intended for use indoors, in the small rooms of castles and manors. Having such sets made it easier to set a table to enjoy tea, coffee and/or chocolate, which was fashionable in the eighteenth century.
In addition to this tea set, The David Collection owns two others. They were all acquired by the museum’s founder, C.L. David.
From 1775 until the year 1800, a total of 169 tea sets were created. They comprised a range of different models and bore different decorations, usually polychrome. Several of these sets were bought by the royal family, who mainly used them as gifts. The most expensive sets were delivered in a mahogany box with silk-lined inserts carefully adapted to the individual porcelain pieces.1
The tea set in The David Collection is an example of one of the large sets consisting of fourteen pieces, and its form is the characteristic so-called ‘Antique model’.2 All the pieces are decorated with wide, light green bands featuring gold garlands and framed medallions with pictures of putti in clouds, painted in sepia. They were painted after prints by the French painter François Boucher (1703–1770). The coffee pot, cream pot and sugar bowl are fitted with lids, decorated with gilded knobs shaped like acorns with leaves.
Today, one might easily think that such tea sets were created to be used for picnics. However, this is not the case. They were intended for use indoors, in the small rooms of castles and manors. Having such sets made it easier to set a table to enjoy tea, coffee and/or chocolate, which was fashionable in the eighteenth century.
In addition to this tea set, The David Collection owns two others. They were all acquired by the museum’s founder, C.L. David.
Published in
Published in
Bredo L. Grandjean: Kongelig Dansk Porcelain: 1775-1884, København 1962, p. 240;
Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1972, p. 32 og pl. 17;
Verner Jul Andersen: Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1983, cat. 87, p. 35;
Louise Birch Sørensen, Mads Damsbo (eds.): Francois Boucher: fragmenter af et verdensbillede, Gl. Holtegaard, Holte 2013, pp. 236-237, cat. 82, and mentioned by Chris Fischer in his chapter: ”Boucher og Danmark”, pp. 276-296, fig. 25;
Lauritz G. Dorenfeldt: Kongeligt porcelæn: brogetmalet porcelæn fra Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik 1775-1810, København 2016, p. 78;
Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1972, p. 32 og pl. 17;
Verner Jul Andersen: Dansk kunst og kunsthåndværk, Davids Samling, København 1983, cat. 87, p. 35;
Louise Birch Sørensen, Mads Damsbo (eds.): Francois Boucher: fragmenter af et verdensbillede, Gl. Holtegaard, Holte 2013, pp. 236-237, cat. 82, and mentioned by Chris Fischer in his chapter: ”Boucher og Danmark”, pp. 276-296, fig. 25;
Lauritz G. Dorenfeldt: Kongeligt porcelæn: brogetmalet porcelæn fra Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik 1775-1810, København 2016, p. 78;
Footnotes
Footnotes
1.
Lauritz G. Dorenfeldt: Kongeligt porcelæn: brogetmalet porcelæn fra Den Kongelige Porcelainsfabrik 1775-1810, Copenhagen 2016, p. 74.
2.
In addition to the ‘Antique model’, the other models are: 1) Lobed model with a round tray 2) Smooth model, oval tray with rocaille handles 3) Smooth model, oval ‘broken’ tray without handles 4) Model with high, pointed handles, terminating in a crescent shape, round smooth tray. Bredo L. Grandjean: Kongelig Dansk Porcelain: 1775-1884, Copenhagen 1962, pp. 240–241.
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