Cup and saucer

K. K. Wiener Porzellan-Manufaktur, Austria, 1801

Glazed, painted white porcelain with gilt relief

H: 6 cm

Markings: Vienna label in blue; 801 imprint

UMP 7571

This Neoclassical cylindrical cup with a perfectly executed miniature painting was produced during Konrad von Sorgenthal’s tenure as head of the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory. Framed in gold relief, the central panel portrays Painting and Poetry based on Angelica Kauffman’s 1782 painting The Artist in the Character of Design Listening to the Inspiration of Poetry. Angelica Kauffmann (1741–1807) was a renowned and respected female artist, a founding member of the Royal Academy in London, and a close friend of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Joshua Reynolds and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. (lmp)

Muse. Self-Portrait of Angelica Kauffmann as drawings inspired by the Muse of Poetry, 1782. (After the painting of Angelica Kaufmann by Thomas Burke, 1787.)