The litron-shaped cup and its 1st (or 2nd?) size saucer, with a blue ground, adorned with a seedling of gold lilies, bordered by a frieze of stylized palms surmounted by a frieze of Greek gold, handle and interior fully gilded.

Good condition, slight wear of the gold.

Sèvres Royal Manufactory, circa 1816.

Blue stamp marks with the cipher of King Louis XVIII (1814-1824), handwritten decoration mark in green dated 11 j (anvi) er (18) 16.

On the back of the saucer, a handwritten label probably in the hand of Count Stanislas de Blacas (1818-1887): "Cup used by the Dauphin." This inscription is repeated on the back of the cup (partly missing and illegible)

H. 8 x D. 17 cm.

Louis-Antoine d'Artois, Duke of Angoulême (1775-1844), Dauphin of France (1824-1830).

Several litron cups and saucers with a beautiful blue background, "frieze and mosaic of lily flowers" or "fleurdelisé decoration" entered individually the sales store of Sèvres under the Restoration: four of the first size on July 8, 1825, June 6, 1828 , December 19, 1828 (at 60 frs / piece) and one with case on March 13, 1829 (at 75 frs / piece), another on December 4, 1829 and two second-size cups on July 3 and December 21, 1829. We unfortunately could not identify their recipients.

An identical cup and saucer with a variant in the central rosette of the saucer, would have also belonged to the Duke of Angoulême and were given by the Duchess of Angoulême to the count Stanislas de Blacas (1818-1887), according to the handwritten inscription original. They were subsequently sold at Poulain-Le Fur, Hôtel des vente du Palais, June 21, 2001, lot 185: sold in its case with the figure of the Duke of Angoulême accompanied by a crystal goblet with the figure of King Louis XVIII. On the back of the case, unfortunately today not located, was the following inscription signed Stanislas de Blacas: "This cup and the crystal glass belonged to King Louis XIX who used it daily from 1816 until June 4, 1844, the day of his death in Göritz. They were given to me by the Queen [title given to the Duchess of Angoulême] in memory of the King [Louis XIX]."

History

Stanislas-Pierre-Joseph-Yves-Marie, count of Blacas, born in Rome on November 5, 1818, died in Paris on March 18, 1887. Son of the minister of King Louis XVIII, Duke Pierre Louis Jean Casimir de Blacas d'Aulps ( 1771-1839), he accompanied with his father the royal family in exile, particularly in Slovenia, following the arrival to the throne of Louis-Philippe in 1830. He was the trusted man of the Count of Chambord.

It was to him that the daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette were given the cup and saucer sold in 2001 which the Duke of Angoulême used "daily" under the Restoration and in exile, as well as the goblet in crystal which was curiously encrusted in the cup by means of a white velvet case in the sale of 2001 (ill. 1). This glass being engraved with the figure of King Louis XVIII and not that of Louis XIX as indicated in the 2001 sheet, we therefore understand that the Duke of Angoulême drank in exile from his uncle's glass, and that the drink was not was not taken directly from the cup, probably for the sake of comfort or to avoid damaging the gilding of the interior.

Both the cup and the saucer are unusual in Sèvres, larger than the usual 4th size liter shapes (H. 6 x D. 13 cm) generally produced by the Manufacture. The use of lilies is rare in Sèvres, their golden color coupled with a blue background demonstrates the royal quality of its illustrious owner.