c1840 English Porcelain Cup & Saucer with Temperance Movement

Porcelain : Antique : Commemorative : Temperance Movement

 

In the 1830s, various Temperance movements began to organize and spread across the United States and Europe. This particular cup and saucer comes from the mid to late 1840s when these movements were gaining greater momentum. The cup and saucer offered here are an original matching set and both have the same primary printed motif of a young man and woman flanking a temperance coat of arms and holding banner flags with ‘SOBRIETY’ and ‘ DOMESTIC COMFORT.’ Other logos on the coat of arms include ‘TEMPERANCE’ and FREEDOM’ and at the bottom of the print is a long banner with the phrase ‘ BE THOU FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH.’ At the top of the arms is an eight pointed star. This motif adorns both the front of the saucer and the primary face or drinking side (for a right handed person) of the cup. Also on the back side of the cup is a different transfer print with an enlarged eight pointed star and the words ‘TEMPERANCE’ ‘STAR’ flanking it. Rays emanate from the star on both the smaller views and the special larger view on the cup (see all photos).

The white porcelain paste is the same for both the cup and saucer and it is a variant of bone china popular in the early to mid 1800s. Many factories in Staffordshire, Wales, Liverpool and elsewhere in Great Britain produced pure white bone china just like this in the 1830 to 1860 period and most all of it is unmarked. The only mark on either vessel is a decorators number of ‘559' in light green hand painted on the back of the saucer. The prints are over the glaze and done using bat printing. A bright yellow and watery green enamel coloring was originally added by hand over limited parts of the prints giving just the right balance to what would have been simply a puce color monochrome motif. Of course, pink luster is also used modestly for rim bands and accent lines on the handle. Finally, the cup and saucer are paneled following the newer styles of table and teawares popular beginning in the early 1840s. The cup is 12 sides and the saucer has 16 panels but none of them are noticeable unless viewed up close. These same panels were used on the newly popular thick plain white ironstone that began replacing mulberry and dark flow blue ironstone in the late 1840s. So if you are looking for a porcelain C&S set commemorating the temperance movement just as it was gaining momentum in the 1840s, then you may want to purchase this historic set before someone else beats you to it. Finally, this matching cup & saucer also comes with my full satisfaction guarantee or you may return them by using my return policy as explained below. Thanks for looking and please do visit again when you have more time.

SIZE: The saucer measures 5 1/2 inches across and stands 1 1/4 inches tall. There is an 2 inch diameter flattened cup seat in the bottom of the saucer. The cup stands 2 7/8 inches tall and has a rim diameter of 3 1/8 inches. The diameter of foot ring on the cup is 1 5/8 inches and 2 5/8 inches on the saucer. The maximum width of the cup is 4 inches from rim edge across to outermost handle tip.

CONDITION: The saucer is in excellent condition with NO chips, NO hairlines, NO cracks, NO major scratches, NO stains, NO repairs and NO restorations. The cup is also in very good condition with just one hairline that is 2 inches long keeping it from being perfect. The handle on the cup is perfect and neither vessels have any rim or footring chips. The only other declaration to note is that the pink lustre rim bands are spotty in small areas and slightly worn leaving about 80 to 85% of the luster rim bands still intact. Some of the missing spots of pink luster may actually have been due to imperfect application when the vessels were first decorated rather than post production wear over time. In that regard, the clobbered yellow & green enameling and the red overglaze prints are more than 99.5% intact. And so this is a very nice cup and saucer original set commemorating an early movement in both America and England.

SHIPPING: Any mainland US buyer pays $9.60 for double boxed and insured USPS Priority mail (insurance is INCLUDED in this amount for all mainland US addresses only). All international buyers will also pay only actual shipping/insurance costs for all verifiable locations outside the continental US mainland (international shipping costs will be determined upon receipt of address details).

RETURN POLICY: Satisfaction and peace of mind are guaranteed for all Docs Antiques listings -- please refer directly to our Service Pledge and our Return Policy for full details. And if you are ever unhappy with your purchase, you may return it undamaged by sending it back post marked within seven days of receipt for a refund (see terms of sale for full details). Items damaged during shipping are covered by insurance and while this rarely happens because we always double box, we will gladly help you file your claim should it ever be necessary (to date, we have a perfect shipping record on Ruby Lane with no claims for damage or loss). Of course, never send an item back that was damaged by shipping since that will void the original insurance. Instead, contact us for help should the unthinkable ever happen.

PAYMENT OPTIONS: We accept checks on US Banks (must have 9 digit routing code; item ships after check fully clears), USPS money orders, PayPal or contact us with your verified address for more options. If you wish to use a credit card by way of Paypal, that option becomes available right after you submit a Ruby Lane purchase order (see Terms of Sale for additional information). Once submitted, a PayPal icon will appear at the bottom of this listing and then you may proceed from there if you wish to pay via Paypal. Or you can also ask me to send you a PayPal invoice if you prefer that approach, instead. Thanks for looking and do come back and visit again when you have the time.

Item ID: RL255.a505

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