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 caneware cup and saucer retains the delicacy and light touch of the earlier era. Reliefs of children and putti--really more rococo than neoclassical--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.

Wedgwood made these cups and saucers, with and without handles, in both unglazed caneware...

Wedgwood made these cups and saucers, with and without handles, in both unglazed caneware and basalt. The form is always consistent: a frieze containing Wedgwood "Cupids" or "Bacchanalian Boys" groups above a band of engine-turned fluting. The saucers are somewhat puzzling to modern eyes, as the top surface where the cup sits is left undecorated. The only saucer ornamentation, engine turning matching that found on the teabowl, appears just beneath the rim on the exterior.

The unglazed caneware 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.