Manner of Rue Thiroux: Queen's Factory (Fabrique de la Reine) (French, 1776-1806), 1776-1777/1778. Gilt hard-paste porcelain cup and saucer, having scrolled reserves with sea-shells, and hanging floral swags. Underglaze blue "A" mark. the saucer with gold decorator marks "Baure p. 88, u" and paper label for Les Armes Du Cavalier, Paris with date of 1773. Note: Andre-Marie Leboeuf established at 661 rue Thiroux, Paris, a hard-paste porcelain factory. The high quality of decoration most mimicked Sevres, and he was later fined for copying them. In 1778 he came under the protection of Queen Marie-Antoinette who so greatly admired his work that she ordered pieces for the dairy at her hamlet and the Pavilion of Belvedere at the Palace of Versailles. This cup and saucer, has a purported history of being from a service used by the Queen at the Chateau de Saint-Cloud. The mark on this piece indicates an unknown manufacturer at the Rue de Cllichy, Paris. Provenance: Acquired from Les Armes Du Cavalier Jean-Robert de Lavergne, Paris, April 2006.

Some loss of gilding with possible restorations to rims; no apparent cracks or chips; examined under ultraviolet light.