The Du Paquier porcelain factory was established in 1718 by the entrepreneurial Dutchman Claude Innocentius du Paquier. Based in Vienna, Du Paquier was the second European factory after Meissen to produce hard-paste porcelain. Although several skilled Meissen workers were coaxed to work in Vienna, Du Paquier was unable to turn the manufactory into a profitable enterprise and in 1744, under the threat of financial collapse, the manufactory was transferred to imperial ownership by Empress Maria-Theresa.
Parcel-gilt and painted with vertical black bands and floral sprays, this teacup and saucer would have catered to the 19th century’s middle-class taste for restrained elegance and was most likely intended as a cabinet piece rather than for use. The marks on both bases indicate that these were gilded by the artist Johann Baumann, active at the manufactory between 1786 and 1839.
