Litron cup and saucer, Vienna

Refined litron cup with matching saucer. Blue ground with thick gold decorations. Great quality and condition. Handle in the shape of an ear. Marked for the year 1815. Number 70 painted in gold for the polychrome painter Jakob Pfnotsch, active in Vienna from 1812 till 1821. Pressed number for the white’s turner Leopold Schneider active from 1812 till 1839.

Size: H cup 6 mc – diameter saucer 13,5 cm

Vienna porcelain, circa 1815.

Lit: In 1718, Claudius Innocentius du Paquier took an immense risk and brought back from Meissen to Vienna the secret of how to make porcelain. In recognition of his achievements, Emperor Karl VI granted him the special privilege of being Vienna’s first and only porcelain manufacturer. In 1744, the Manufactory was taken under Imperial ownership by Empress Maria Theresia. Since then, the blue-striped shield from the coat of arms of the Dukes of Austria underneath the glaze was used to confirm authenticity. The production followed the latest Rocaille trend. The Manufactory enjoyed a golden age between 1784 and 1805 under the management of Conrad Sörgel von Sorgenthal. This “artistic period” of Classicism celebrated the return to straight lines and artistic styles from the Antiquity. During the Biedermeier era, Viennese porcelain became a status symbol for the aspiring middle classes. 
The national and international competition forced the famous company to close down in 1864. Its extensive collection of designs was donated to the Museum of Art and Industry, (now the MAK).