Loving cup with two handles
Désiré Leroy is regarded as the most distinguished artist working for the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain Company at the turn of the 20th century. He was apprenticed to the famous Sèvres factory at the age of 11. By the age of 22 he was hailed as the leading artist in the ceramic world.
Minton enticed several important French ceramic artists, including Leroy in 1874, to Stoke-on-Trent with the promise of higher wages and better housing. In 1890, the year in which the company was granted its Royal warrant, Leroy was appointed art director and designer at the Royal Crown Derby Porcelain works. Leroy enjoyed several privileges, being given his own studio where he worked with his small team on prestigious commissions such as the dessert service for Princess May of Teck (later Queen Mary).
Favouring daring and unconventional ground colours and elaborate jewelled gilding, the legacy of his training at Sèvres is obvious. The panels on the loving cup are unusual as Leroy is best known for painting flowers, birds, and fruit rather than figures. The subjects appear to be his own invention, rather than copied from well-known paintings.
