Literature

A Sèvres Ice Cup (tasse à glace) bleu lapis caillouté and flowers.

The deep circular bowl has a flared rim, stands on a tighter stem with a low domed foot, and has a scrollwork handle to one side. The body is decorated with a dark blue (bleu lapis) ground, covered with pebbled gilded decoration (caillouté). A large, kidney-shaped white reserve is painted with a spray of flowers and leaves in natural colours. The reserve is framed with gilded scrollwork, with leaves tooled and burnished. Burnished gilding highlights the rims and handle.

Two services were made at Sèvres in the late 1760s with this bleu lapis caillouté decoration, which contained this shape of ice cup for serving sorbets. Both services were purchased by Louis XV. The first was presented to King Christian VII of Denmark, partly in 1768, with a second delivery in 1769, while the second service was kept by the King for his personal use at Versailles.