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A small porcelain cup painted with a coat of arms in a shield cartouche, ringed by swags of pink and blue flowers, with an orange ground handle and a gilt rim.
It comes with a handwritten dealer tag reading, in full, nineteenth century French porcelain with armorial decoration by Samson. I am passing that on as what accompanies the piece, not as my own attribution. Samson of Paris built a business making accurate armorial reproductions in the Chinese export taste, and they are collected in their own right, but I have found no factory mark on this cup and I cannot confirm the tag from the object itself.
What I can say from the porcelain is that the arms are painted rather than transferred. The shield outlines are drawn with a loaded brush that varies in width, the enamel stands slightly proud of the glaze where you can feel it, and no two flowers in the swag repeat.
The handle is a separate applied piece finished in a solid orange ground, and it is the one element carrying no pattern at all, which is what stops a busy cup from becoming a confused one.
Buy this on the porcelain and the painting. If the tag is right it is worth more than I am asking, and if it is wrong it is still a well painted armorial cup in undamaged condition.
Condition: No chips, cracks or hairlines found at the rim, handle or foot. Gilding on the rim and handle is largely intact with light wear. Enamel colours are strong. Interior is clean and unstained. A handwritten dealer tag is tied to the handle. No factory mark found on the underside.
Ships flat rate from Baltimore via FedEx, wrapped and boxed. I give myself two days to pack properly rather than one day to pack fast. I price shipping by size rather than by scale, since I work from photographs rather than a shipping scale. Combined shipping on multiple items. Returns accepted for 30 days.
Ten percent of every sale goes to a nonprofit providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
Packaging is reused. Boxes and padding come from what already passed through here, so the parcel will not look new but it will arrive intact. Nothing extra is included: no cards, no plastic sleeves, no filler.
I teach for a living. Sorting and researching these pieces is how I learn, and selling is what makes room for the next batch. If you know more about this one than I do, tell me. Corrections are welcome and I will update the listing.
