Tea Cup Tuesday French Cups!

Welcome once again to Tea Cup Tuesday!
Martha and I love to share our china with you all, and we really love seeing your beautiful tea cups. Last week every cup was so stunning! Thank you all for participating.
Make sure you stop by and see Martha's china. She has the most gorgeous cups around!

I was very lucky last week to spy these cups in an antique shop. They were quite dirty and I was trying to decide if they were what I wanted, by trying to rub off the dirt and grime and get a good look. I am so glad I brought them home,
because once I cleaned them up they were gorgeous!

They do seem quite plain, but they feel very fine in the hand. I ended up buying 5 sets of them.

They really do look more elegant and beautiful in "person". The creamy white and the gold are very rich looking. The picture does not do them justice.

Look at the detail on the simple, albeit elegant and large, loop handle! So French!

This pretty leaf design circles the plate as well as the cup edge.

The stamp says this cup was made by Sevres, a company that began in the 1700's in France.
I have read all over the Internet about the Sevres porcelain company, but still do know know very much about where my cups came from. There is also wording scratched in the porcelain, you can just barely see it in the photo.

King Louis IV took great interest in the company during his reign, going as far as to take over the company. He was very involved in the designs and quality of the china. He even had special viewing parties at Versailles where he greatly encouraged his guests to purchase. The earlier backstamp was two Ls known as the Double L for Louis. Above you can see a double L. Many other potters copied the styles and backstamps. Even though there was a law against it. This backstamp is not listed among the known stamps from the 18th century, but I have seen it shown as Sevres Style backstamp and in some places as 19th century Sevres backstamp.

From what I have seen of Sevres, they crafted beautiful and elaborate china pieces. My cups are very simple compared to them, and may be one clue that they are not Sevres.

This emblem on the plate and front of the cup reminds me of the symbol Laduree (a famous Paris restaurant and bakery) uses on their boxes and napkins. That may be why I loved them so much.

So my cups may be old or they may be new...they may be Sevres or they may be a knock off...I don't think I mind either way! I used them for a family tea last Sunday and they were lovely to drink from. That is perfect to me!

If you happen to know about this backstamp I would love to hear from you.

Thank you so much for stopping by and viewing my tea cups! If you would like to play along, just create a post with the tea cup you would like to share, and then come back here and fill in the blanks with Mr. Linky and you will be automatically added to the list. Make sure you check your link to see if it takes you to your site. Once in a while a link will not work and we can not find the participants post.

Thank you all for your lovely birthday wishes! I had a wonderful day!
To celebrate I have a Gratitude Giveaway!
(here is a sneak peek at the tea for one!)

Go HERE to comment and have a chance to win!
Hugs to you All,
Terri