Pair Of Empire-period Porcelain Coffee Cups, Naples, Capodimonte?

Pair of coffee cups (litron cups) and their porcelain saucers. Beautiful Empire-style design gilded with fine gold on both the cup and the saucer. The cup bears an inscription in Italian: “Al P(adre) Antonino Quesada, La sua Nipote, L di S.S.” (To Father Antonino Quesada, His Niece L of S.S.). Empire-Restoration period, circa 1800. Our cups were likely produced by the Capodimonte Manufactory in Naples.

The inscription in Italian is interesting and helps identify the origin of this cup: the family of Marquis Quesada di San Sebastiano, a member of the Sardinian high nobility.
This refers to Antonino Quesada, a prominent Sardinian scholar and clergyman at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. He was a teacher and professor at the University of Sassari in the late 18th and early 19th centuries (alongside other Sardinian intellectuals of the time, such as Bonaventura Dettori).
The donor identified by the letter “L” is either Donna Lucia Quesada or Donna Luigia Quesada, daughters or close relatives of Carlo Vincenzo Quesada (the first Marquis of San Sebastiano). As members of the extended family, they were the nieces (“Nipote”) of the abbot/priest Antonino Quesada. The use of the abbreviated title “di S.S.” (di San Sebastiano) served precisely to sign their names and indicate their membership in the senior, titled branch of the family, thereby distinguishing them from the junior branches.

Fine provenance and an interesting historical memento.

Excellent condition, superb gilding perfectly preserved.
We have 4 cups available.

Height: 6.2 cm
Cup diameter: 6.2 cm
Saucer diameter: 12.8 cm

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