Lovely tea cup and saucer for discussion

Hello community!
Friends, I’ve been away for over a month — busy with renovation and reorganising the space

You’re very welcome to visit if you’re ever in Nottingham — for a cup of tea or coffee ☕

Now, I have something for discussion.

I believe this could be French, 18th century — roughly somewhere between 1740 and 1760. The porcelain is beautiful and translucent when held to the light. It’s hand-painted. The cup is actually quite large — 10.5 cm in diameter at the top and 7 cm high. The saucer measures 16.5 cm. There are no visible marks at all. Inside the cup there was once a small painted flower as well, but it has clearly worn over time.

I absolutely love the set and have found a few approximate references, but I would really value the opinion of the community. What do you think about the date and place of manufacture?

What I especially adore is the little “sun” on the saucer It cleverly disguises a small porcelain imperfection — a tiny raised dot in the centre. And what could be better than painting a delicate starburst around it, as if it had been planned all along?

I can almost imagine the artist’s sly smile:
“Oh, that’s not a problem at all… we’ll fix that right now.”