The head of Elisa Bonaparte as a porcelain cup

Elisa Bonaparte

Elisa Bonaparte, or more accurate and in full; Marie Anne Elisa Bonaparte Baciocchi Levoy (1777-1820) Princess of Lucca and Piombino and the Grand Duchess of Tuscany (1805-1815) was a younger sister of Napoleon. If you’re interested in that long and acurate name click HERE to find out more about her family life. Elisa was actually a political ruler, click HERE if you want to know the ins and outs about that.

Fascinating drinking cup

In this post we would like to elaborate on the love Elisa B. had for the arts and we want to focus especcially on a cup she used to drink from. This fascinating cup came in the shape of her own head and it was made by the Doccia porcelain manufactory, founded by Carlo Ginori. This little cup has been reproduced since ages, up until nowadays in biscuit porcelain. Next to drinking from her own head, Elisa B. also, at one point ordered twelve lifesize busts of her own image, made from Carrera marble, which was her property since the town is situated in Tuscany. We, at Mimi Berlin, have to dig deeper into that history some other time ’cause we’ve seen much more of her face on several items.

In the Netherlands this little cup is available only at the Mek store in Amsterdam, thhahanks to Gerard van Riel from Mek for telling us this story.

images via thefrenchporcelainsociety.com / labirintodifrancomariaricci.it

Melon Cup vs MimiMug

Melon Cup vs MimiMug

High-End vs Low-End

Melon Cup vs MimiMug

On the left porcelain cup from the  service ‘Melon‘ designed by Josef Hoffmann, founder of the “Wiener Werkstätte”,  in 1929.

On the right ceramic ‘MimiMug’ from the ‘Mimimalist’ series (concept: Twan Janssen) designed by us, at Mimi Berlin, in 2012.

Both drinking devices are Never-Out-of-Stock. You can still order the ‘Melon’ mocha service at the Vienna Porcelain Manufactory Augarten. Our ‘MimiMug’ can be ordered at the mimimall.amsterdam; both conveniently available online of course!