ULISSE CANTAGALLI, FLORENCE, ITALY, LATE 19TH CENTURY

Talleyrand's maxim on coffee reads as follow :Noir comme le diable, chaud comme l'enfer, pur comme un ange, doux comme l'amour (Dark as the devil, hot as Hell, pure as an angel and sweet as love).

A coffee pot bearing the same verse and attributed to Florence, Italy and dated circa 1880, albeit of slightly different form is illustrated in S. Vernoit, The Nasser D Khalili Collection of Islamic Art, Occidentalism, London, 1997, vol. 23, cat. 166, p. 213-13.