Lidded cup and saucer

Meissen, Germany, ca. 1800

Glazed and painted porcelain.

H: 7 cm; Diameter: 10 cm

Markings: swords with a star in blue and no. 4

UMP 7635

An oval medallion on the cup presents Mercury at rest; the symbol of Mercury, a staff with two serpents, is on the lid. On the saucer is the nymph Salmacis and Hermaphroditus(?). Painted in grisaille (shades of grey), a gilt ivy wreath and ribbon encircle the medallions. Entwined tendril handle. Decorated with gilt lines, stylised egg-and-dart bands, and accents.

According to Greek legends, Salmacis fell in love with Hermaphroditus (the son of Aphrodite and Hermes).  But her love was unrequited, so she asked the gods to let her be with him forever. And thus they were fused together at the fountain in which Salmacis lived. Since that time, all who bathed in the fountain would become a hermaphrodite. (Ovid, Metamorphoses 4.306–312).