Jean-Honoré Fragonard: The Swing, 1767 – Porcelain Art Mug

Pink and gold light, a sculpted garden space, a flying shoe, and the momentary revelation of a petticoat as the swing rises. The commission behind it was as knowing as the picture: a member of the French court — by some accounts the Baron de Saint-Julien — asked for a scene of his mistress on a garden swing, pushed by a bishop, while he himself lay concealed in the shrubbery below to watch.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard (1732–1806) turned that request into one of the century's great paintings, carried off with a technique of extraordinary delicacy and assurance. The Wallace Collection in London, which has held The Swing since the nineteenth century, describes it as among the most complete expressions of the Rococo spirit — a style devoted to pleasure, elegance and the aestheticisation of aristocratic leisure in the decades before the Revolution swept it away. Fragonard survived the Revolution, outlived his patrons and died in relative obscurity; his rehabilitation as a master came later. The painting, which treats its own frivolity with perfect seriousness, has never required rehabilitation.

Fine porcelain, 10 oz — 104 mm high, 75 mm across the base. The image runs around the body; handle and rim stay white. Dishwasher and microwave safe.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard, The Swing, c. 1767–1768, oil on canvas. The Wallace Collection, London. Public domain.

Selected by Dr. Walther Fuchs for the Tazzarte collection.