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Ginori coffee cup with crowned cipher E for Elisa Baciocchi Grand Duchess of Tuscany c.1810
Ginori (Doccia), attributed, c. 1810–1815; from a white and gilt service bearing the crowned cipher E, traditionally associated with Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany.
Description
Manifattura di Doccia (Ginori), early 19th century. Cup from a white-and-gilt service bearing the crowned cipher E; painted gold star factory mark to the underside. Traditionally associated with Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany.
Provenance
Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1809 to 1814
History & Context
During her rule of Tuscany, Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi, Napoleon I’s sister and Grand Duchess of Tuscany from 1809 to 1814, patronised the region’s leading artistic manufactories, including the Ginori porcelain factory at Doccia. Surviving factory records confirm that porcelain was supplied by Ginori to Elisa’s Napoleonic court, while a 1903 sale of possessions associated with the Baciocchi and Grabinski families included a substantial white-and-gold table service bearing the letter E beneath a princely crown and identified in the catalogue as belonging to Elisa Baciocchi. This cup bears the same distinctive crowned cipher and, importantly, a painted gold star to its underside, a mark documented for the Doccia manufactory during the early nineteenth century. Although a direct provenance from Elisa has not yet been established, the combination of the Ginori mark, imperial-period decoration and the documented existence of a comparable crowned-E service provides strong support for an association with her Tuscan court.
Marks & Inscriptions
