Magnificent Tete a Tete Dejeuner

Vienna, 1803

Marks: Barred Shield (underglaze blue)
production year 801, 803 (stamped 1801 and 1803)
decorators numbers (impressed)
Ref: Wiener Porzellan des Klassizismus Die Sammlung Bloch-Bauer, Plate 5 and 6

The Vienna Porcelain factory (second oldest after Meissen) produced some of the finest quality painted porcelain. It was there that Josef Leithner made many of his numerous discoveries regarding pigment, laying the groundwork for the elaborate and sophisticated painting techniques on porcelain. Following the lead of Vienna, all the great factories soon divided their decoration department into history and landscape painting, and flower painting and pattern work.

This dejeuner has gold-relief engraved vines, leaves, and embellishments on a cobalt-blue background. The imaginative and lush gold decoration shows the costly elegance of the Empire style. The service became a popular form in the late 18th century. Services like this Tete a Tete often displayed the plentiful decorative forms ofclassical Greece and Rome.