Though it dates from the cusp of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this finely pott...

Though it dates from the cusp of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this finely potted cane ware cup and saucer retains the delicacy and light touch of the earlier era. Reliefs of cupids and putti--really more rococo than neo-classical--adorn the plain upper band of the unglazed surface. Below a band of engine-turned fluting recedes to the foot of the cup, only to be repeated on the underside of the saucer.

The unglazed cane ware reliefs of the decorated band recall French rococo sculptures of th...

The unglazed cane ware reliefs of the decorated band recall French rococo sculptures of the mid-eighteenth century. The contrast of the crisp fluting is like the presence of a snappy striped silk in a room of boiserie panels.