Cabinet cup

In European porcelain, a cabinet cup is an unusually richly decorated cup, normally with a saucer, that did not form part of a tea service but was sold singly (or in a pair) to give as a present or to collectors. They were expected to be displayed in a glass-fronted china cabinet rather than put to regular use.^[1] The heyday of the cabinet cup was the second half of the 18th century and the first decades of the 19th century; they worked well in the showy Empire style then in fashion. A more general term, also covering plates and other shapes, is cabinet piece.^[2]

The decoration generally included overglaze enamel painting of a very high standard, tending to focus on a single main subject or scene, rather than spreading equally around the cup in a pattern. The saucer was also decorated, often including the central area which would be covered by the cup in use. The bottom of the saucer often lacked the usual depression where the cup sat, as in cabinets the saucer was often displayed placed nearly vertical on a wire holder beside the cup, so that the whole saucer could be seen. Some are pieces commemorating either public events, especially concerning royalty, or private ones. There was often lavish use of gilding, an indication the pieces were not for heavy use, as this often did not wear well.^[3]

The shape of the porcelain body of the cups was sometimes unusual and indeed impractical; there were often two handles. The two-handled cup with a cover is called a "caudle cup" in England, but typically a "chocolate cup" for continental examples. Caudle cups were given as presents to a mother lying-in after childbirth by female friends who gathered to celebrate by consuming this alcoholic porridge-like dish.^[4] Mug shapes were also used, and cabinet pieces might be sold as pairs, or sometimes available as small sets; in these cases the main paintings would be different but matching. Derby developed in the 1780s a particular saucerless type of "small straight-sided mugs generally termed 'coffee cans'", which "seem most likely have been conceived as cabinet pieces", and have some of the factory's finest painting.^[5]

Most porcelain factories with a reputation for high-quality painting made at least some cabinet cups. Some supplied the unpainted bodies as "blanks" for "outside decoration" by independent hausmaler enamellers. In England, Worcester and Derby were early makers, and continental makers included Sèvres and smaller Parisian factories, Vienna, Berlin, and Meissen.^[6]