Minton 'Old Sèvres' style cup and saucer

Minton - 1858
 
This lovely Minton cup and saucer features beautifully hand painted birds within white reserves surrounded by slightly raised and tooled gilding.

The birds are all different and painted in vibrant and exotic colours against capriccios of landscapes and foliage. This use of these white reserves really allows the bird painting to pop against the rich cobalt blue of the main cup body. The expert and delicate rococo revival gilding extends inside the cup and is of the finest quality. 

The ‘Old Sèvres’ style is something for which Minton became famous across the globe and they continual reinvented it throughout the 19th century. This cup comes from the golden age of Minton in the post Great Exhibition era.
 
Condition: Excellent, some minor wear to the gilding.