The cup and the saucer are decorated in the famille rose palette, with a gilt border of shell and foliage motifs. The center of the saucer bears the coat of arms of the House of Condé painted in a rocaille cartouche under clouds, De France au bâton péri en bande de gueules en abîme, under the coronet of a prince of the blood.
The House of Condé is a branch of the House of Bourbon, descended from Louis I de Bourbon-Condé (1530-1569), the fifth son of Charles IV de Bourbon. He was the brother of Antoine de Bourbon, King Consort of Navarre, and father of the future Henry IV.
This tea service is unrecorded. It originally included at least a teapot, twelve cups and saucers, a milk jug, and a sugar bowl. In the absence of a specific attribute of an order or charge on the coat of arms, it is not possible to ascribe them to one of the princes of blood of the Condé family.
This set was commissioned either for Louis V de Bourbon-Condé (1736-1818), the eighth prince de Condé, or one of his uncles, Charles de Bourbon-Condé (1700-1760), comte de Charolais, or Louis de Bourbon- Condé (1709-1771), comte de Clermont.
This design was also used for the French armorial order of Hervé-Gabriel de Silguy (1701-1768), sénéchal du présidial de Quimper from 1723 to 1758.
