A pair of Alcora chocolate cup holders
48
A pair of Alcora faience stands for chocolate cups (mancerinas), circa 1760
The bases modelled in the shape of scallop shells and set with central cup holders pierced with different openwork patterns, painted in blue, green, ockre and yellow with fancy birds among formal flowering plants, narrow blue tramline borders, 19cm wide (both with a single chip) (2)
Sold for £875 inc. premium

Footnotes

  • For mancerinas of similar shape see Anthony Ray, Spanish Pottery 1248-1898 (2000), p. 222, fig. 392, and p. 229, fig. 398. Derived from Spanish silver prototypes, mancerinas are said to have been invented circa 1640 by the Marques de Mancera, Viceroy of Peru. The Marques witnessed how a guest at a reception spilled her chocolate from a cup resting on a plain saucer stand.

Category: Decorative Arts / European Ceramics

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Sebastian Kuhn Bonhams
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Specialist - European Ceramics