porcelain, of cylindrical form, the body with coloured portraits of Ptolemy II and his sister and wife Arsinoe II in profile, based on the Ptolemy Cameo in the Imperial Collection of Classical Antiquities (now the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna), framed in gold, encompassed by alternating golden griffins and garlands of leaves on green ground, gilt edges, the inside under the rim with golden leafy tendril on white ground, partly gold ground, gold-heightened angular handle, saucer with matching decoration, height 6.8 cm, saucer diameter 15.9 cm, dated (1)815, turner no. 36 Anton Landskron, 25 Franz Dunkel, underglaze blue Austrian shield, (Hr)

In the early 19th century, the imitation of precious stones on porcelain was of great importance to almost all porcelain manufacturers. This subject was also very popular at the Vienna Porcelain Factory. The design of the present cup is reminiscent of the Viennese porcelain service for the Duke of Wellington, one of the largest and most expensive services that the Viennese manufactory produced for Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, at the request of Emperor Francis I of Austria. Only the best artists were involved in the creation of this service, which consists of more than 200 porcelain pieces. The imperial collection of antiquities served as a model. The Wellington service was delivered in 1820. The present cup from 1815, with a different and simpler gold decoration, may have been a test piece.

Lit.:
Rainald Franz, Das Wiener Porzellanservice für den Duke of Wellington, in: 300 Jahre Wiener Porzellanmanufaktur, Vienna 2018, p. 42ff