This exceptional cup and saucer, richly gilt on a beau bleu ground, is finely painted with scenes of huntsmen taking refreshment and travellers in a landscape setting. Copied with meticulous attention from an engraving dated 1774, Le Chasseur prenant des Forces, by Peeter Bout after Carl Wilhelm Weisbrod (1743-1806), the reserves are examples of Pierre-Nicolas Pithou l’aîné ’s style at its most accomplished. The finely rendered detail - in particular the coats of the horses and the use of glowing colours painted in a diaphanous manner - accentuates the overall elegiac mood of the scenes. Text adapted from French Porcelain for English Palaces, Sèvres from the Royal Collection, London, 2009