Louis XVI Coffee Cup – Manufacture De La Reine, Paris (marie-antoinette).

A rare and refined small hard-paste porcelain cup and saucer, Manufacture de la Reine, rue Thiroux, Paris, Louis XVI period, circa 1778–1790. Produced by the Manufacture de la Reine, founded on rue Thiroux in Paris in the last quarter of the 18th century, under the direct patronage of Queen Marie Antoinette, this cup, hemispherical in shape, rests on a small circular foot and features a simple, rounded handle, decorated on its inner surface with gilt dots, a characteristic detail of high-quality Parisian production during the Louis XVI period. A delicate frieze of green leafy scrolls punctuated with blue cornflowers runs beneath the rim, enhanced with fine gold lines. The body is adorned with a scattering of small polychrome flowers and gilt motifs, arranged with great elegance. The perfectly matching saucer uses the same decorative vocabulary: a continuous floral frieze around the rim, concentric gilt lines, and a scattering of cornflowers and gilt motifs in the center. This "cornflower" decoration, particularly popular at the end of the 18th century, is one of the emblematic designs of the Queen's Manufactory and fully illustrates the neoclassical taste associated with Marie Antoinette's style. The reverse of the cup and saucer bears the painted red mark of a crowned capital "A," the official mark of the Queen's Manufactory, attested from 1778 onward by contemporary sources (Gazette of December 4, 1778, Henry Havard). With its small size and hemispherical shape, this piece corresponds to a small coffee cup used at the end of the 18th century, intended for espresso, and is clearly distinguished from the so-called "bouillard" cups by its more modest format. Dimensions: – Saucer diameter: 10.1 cm – Cup rim diameter: 5.8 cm – Cup height: 4.7 cm Condition: Very good condition for its age. No cracks or chips. Gilding well preserved, with slight wear consistent with age. A rare, elegant, and historically documented set, a testament to the refinement of Parisian tableware during the reign of Louis XVI, and particularly sought after for its direct connection to the Queen's Manufactory.