Cup with view of St. Vitus Cathedral

Lippert & Haas, Schlaggenwald, Czech Republic, after 1831

Glazed, painted and gilt white porcelain; lithophane in the bottom of the cup.

H: 9.2 cm

Markings: S, 52 imprint; 19. 11. 1850, Pešina in black

UMP 7249

Purchased from collector and antique dealer K. Chaura in Prague, 1911.

This cup with a high handle and relief gadrooning on the foot represents a typical product of the Late Empire period, produced by the very best Bohemian porcelain manufactures in as early as the 1820s. The cup is formed from porcelain of the highest quality; due to its translucent qualities, a lithophane – the image of a girl with her dog – appears once the holder has finished their coffee. A skilled specialist created a miniature painting based on a coloured etching by Vincenc Morstadt on the body of the cup. The themes of Prague’s St. Vitus Cathedral and the golden Eye of Providence on the saucer were not selected randomly. The cup was made for Václav Michal Pešina of Čechorod (1782–1859), a Bohemian Roman Catholic priest, author and publisher who in 1828 made it his mission to see through the completion of St. Vitus Cathedral; in 1844 he founded the Union for Completion of the St. Vitus Cathedral at Prague Castle. (lmp)