Featured Imperial Russian porcelain coffee cups

I just bought these lovely I E Kuznetsov porcelain cups and saucers. The mark dates them to 1900-1913 .

They have Arabic script below the mark which indicates they were for the Persian market. They are so small that they could only have been intended for tiny Turkish style coffees.

One cup has the bunch of grapes missing. Do you think this is just a mistake or a deliberate mistake in the tradition of Islamic art to add imperfections because nothing is perfect but Allah?

I suppose we will never know but it’s an interesting point.

Thanks in advance as always

John

 

That's an interesting observation John, particularly as you have a set of 6 which is generally considered to be the traditional/standard number within such sets. I would imagine that factory quality procedures would have noticed a glaring mistake (if it is an error) before releasing the cup to the retailer? I'm not clued-up about pottery items and so perhaps somebody else has a better opinion. Would you say the decoration is transferred/applied or hand-painted?

 

It is hand painted.

 

Nice fantasy and good sales pitch for excusing lack of quality control at the factory!

 

My Father told me that Turkish rugs always have a flaw since only Allah is considered perfect. .We lived there when I was young and my father bought Persian rugs. I never considered other items having that flaw.

 

I'd wager the Russian artist is still spending time in the Gulag, for his mistake...

 

It’s interesting. I’ve spent a while scrolling through sites with this query. The rug is often mentioned and art and architecture too but no mentions of porcelain. As Blooey says , probably a fantasy but worth a tongue-in-cheek mention in the sales blurb when I list them on Thursday.

 

Maybe the set was made for the Central Asian market. Without proof you won't know which market the Arabic script was intended for.

Many people don't understand tongue-in-cheek comments, and someone is likely to come along on Antiquers and present it as gospel truth.

 

@John Brassey Are their any other sets by the same maker and/or others produced for the same Persian market-place that have a similar area of missing pattern? If it is not a common trait with similar items then perhaps Your coffee cup is just an overlooked-error by the factory?

 

No. As I said earlier I haven’t found any examples of porcelain with mistakes like this. As you say it is most likely an overlooked error.

 

Don’t worry I will make it very clear.

As for the market, I found a lengthy academic paper on the company and its extensive trade with Central Asia. I will probably use that instead of Persia.