Tea service Porcelain c. 1725-30 Unknown artist 

Drinking tea became increasingly popular in the eighteenth century. And porcelain cups were the preferred receptacle for this hot beverage. Apart from those imported from China and Japan, porcelain cups were also made in factories in Europe. This is a unique tea service. It includes a teapot, an angular tea caddy, an oval sugar bowl and six cups and saucers. One of the saucers is not an original: it was made at the Russian imperial pottery in St Petersburg in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. The rest of the set was made at Meissen in Germany. The various items in the service are decorated in typical Meissen fashion, with chinoiserie elements. These exotic scenes are depicted in gold-paint cartouches.