This semi-hemispherical piece is an original creation dating from 1753. It was made at the porcelain factory that was set up in Vincennes in 1740 with the support of Madame de Pompadour, before moving to Sèvres in 1756. It was named 'Bouillard' after one of the factory's first shareholders, the Farmer General and marchand-mercier (decorative art dealer) Antoine-Augustin Bouillard. The technique for making soft-paste porcelain was developed in Saxony in 1720 and sparked real envy among European financiers. After paying a former worker from the Chantilly factory to divulge the secret technique, in 1738 Jean-Louis Orry de Fulvy set up a new factory in Vincennes to rival the one in Meissen, Saxony. There, he made original pieces with the support of some big names on the contemporary decorative arts scene. The shapes of these pieces were named after the main shareholders of the factory, which received royal patronage from 1751. This cup is made from soft-paste porcelain and has a royal blue background with gold decoration. The port scene depicted inside the cartouche is attributed to Jean-Louis Morin, a major artist who worked for the factory and specialised in this kind of work from 1758.