Tea Cup & China

Before Your Cup Runneth Over, Consider Its Real Worth and Purpose:

There is more to a tea cup than meets the eye

Although not at the forefront of every tea drinker’s mind there is an ever-present accessory which can and does enhance the enjoyment of the beverage, from Japan to North America and every point on the globe. The ‘lowly’ tea cup,. whether its chosen contents are Oolong, Irish Breakfast, Earl Grey, lemon, cream, honey or sugar… or even no sweetening at all, the beverage must make its way from the teapot to the lips. Regardless the flavor of choice, the mode of tranport, the tea cup is inseparable from the process: If tea is to be enjoyed, tea cups will most certainly become involved.

Metlox circa 1957.

A tea might travel with style:
In the finest of Royal Doulton, Mikasa or Noritake,
Perhaps one of any number of lovely and exotic hand-painted conveyances; the envy of your neighbors.

Tea might even “slum”, transporting itself from pot to lips in the lowest of mugs, but no less enjoyable to the connoisseur or casual consumer. I know that there are those fine tuned enough to tell the difference and indeed I can tell it too but I would draw the line at avoiding the tea because of the vessel.

Fortunately the choice of vessel is as diverse as the choice of tea. Perhaps the rarest and most valuable are the Japanese Lithophane cups. Often these artistic wonders include cup bottoms with drawings of geisha girls within the porcelain and only visible when tipped up and with a light source facing the drinker. These frequently come in sets decorated with dragons or symbols of nature associated with the Kami of Shintoism. Some of these were manufactured for overseas trade and these generally will come in even-numbered sets. Those sets intended for use within Japan will most frequently come with an odd number of cups and saucers. (I know this in itself seems odd but it’s really not something to worry about when having tea, just something to make conversation during…)
Dragonware – a souvenier miniature set.

Japanese tea sets as above would be most likely be made of porcelain, as are collectors cups from Limoges in France or Bavaria; made as finely as any of the offerings from the Orient. Myriad decorations, patterns and styles diverse as one might imagine. You should have no difficulty matching any decor or even mixing-and-matching to achieve the pleasant “hodge-podge” of the country kitchen.

Jaeger Harvest Grape

There are a number of extremely prolific English potters who developed bone china because of the lack of material to make porcelain in Staffordshire where the English potteries were located. Woods and Sons, Crown Staffordshire and Johnson Brothers come to mind immediately. The cups’ maker really is nowhere near as important as its contents though. One can certainly enjoy a tea cup made of bone china as much as one of porcelain. Both Bone China and fine Porcelain have the advantage of being very light and transmitting heat rapidly away from the tea itself and sooner to your palate. So, if rapid enjoyment is “your cup of tea,” try a cup made from one of these materials. If not, have it in the mug! That’s where it’s destined after all.

I was taught several lessons regarding tea service as a youngster. One was that breakables were to be kept from the hands of the young. Given that I was never allowed to drink from the “nicer” tea cups but age has permitted me to escape the rules of yesteryear, I am now allowed as aesthetic a vessel as I desire. Go ahead and splurge on the aesthetics. It does not hurt the experience at all!

And if a mug will do, a mug will do. Were it not for the tea there would be no cup at all but the world might be a slightly poorer place..

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New! Thomas Eclipse Modern China Coffee Tea Cup 2 3/4″ Orange Red Black Circles $8.88

ROYAL ALBERT CHINA CONSTANCE PATTERN TEA CUP $4.73

Lovely PARAGON Fine Bone China Teacup and Saucer-NR $5.50

ASIANA AIRLINES COFFEE TEA CUP AND SAUCER NORITAKE BONE CHINA $19.99

ASIANA AIRLINES COFFEE TEA CUP AND SAUCER NORITAKE BONE CHINA MINT CONDITION $24.99

ROYAL ALBERT FINE BONE CHINA ENGLAND TEACUP SAUCER SET $23.99

Vintage China Sandwich Lap Plate with Tea Cup and Holder EUC $19.99

NEWCOR MELODY 6167 STONEWARE CHINA TEA CUP (s) ONLY $4.99

Chinese Zhong Guo Oriental Porcelain China Tea Pot Cup Serving Platter Plate $24.99

Lovely Royal Albert Bone China Treasure Chest Series Teacup and Saucer-NR $5.50

God And Grandmothers Bone China Tea Cup And Saucer Set $28.95

VIOLETS antique delicate china painted gilded teacup & saucer MOTHER’S DAY GIFT! $24.99

Shelley Fine Bone China 13526 Red & Gold Leaf Tea Cup & Saucer $14.62

Sheffield Fine China Sweet Violets Pattern Tall Footed Coffee or Tea Cup 1970 $2.99

Sheffield Fine China Sweet Violets Pattern Tall Footed Coffee or Tea Cup 1970 $2.99

Sheffield Fine China Sweet Violets Pattern Tall Footed Coffee or Tea Cup 1970 $2.99

Shelley Fine Bone China 13393 Red & Gold Leaf Tea Cup And Saucer $18.35

VINTAGE JAPAN ROYAL M MITA VIRGINIA FINE CHINA FLORAL TEA CUP! $7.99

VINTAGE ENGLAND JOHNSON BROS MARIE FLORAL FINE CHINA TEA CUPS LOT SET $4.99

VINTAGE JAPAN PEACH LUSTER SCENIC FINE CHINA TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE SET $12.99

VINTAGE JAPAN BAMBOO CHINA TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE SET $2.99

VINTAGE JAPAN NORITAKE NITTO WARE DIANE FINE CHINA FLORAL TEA CUPS LOT SET $19.99

VINTAGE GERMANY FUGER WHITE & BLUE FLORAL FINE CHINA TEA CUPS LOT SET MUGS $7.75

VINTAGE WHITE ENGLAND FINE CHINA PINK FLORAL TEA CUPS LOT SET $2.99

VINTAGE JAPAN FASHION ROYALE FASCINATION FINE CHINA SCROLL TEA CUPS LOT SET $7.75

TEACUP LOUISE #3803 by ROSE CHINA JAPAN $1.95

2 LENOX ALYSSA TEA CUP DEBUT COLLECTION USA MADE BONE CHINA TEACUP COFFEE MUG $27.99

Fine China Japan Adele 3736 Coffee Tea Cup Excellent Condition $8.00

Beautiful Alpine Strawberry Tea Pot with cups and saucers England, Bone China $50.00

DUCHESS FLORAL TEACUP BONE CHINA ENGLAND GOLD TRIM FLOWERS MUG TEA CUP $8.99

DUCHESS BONE CHINA ENGLAND YELLOW ROSE TEA CUP & SAUCER $7.99

Used Yellow Royal Imperial Ridgway Tea Coffee Cup Saucer Set England Bone China $19.99

Coalport China VICEROY Dinnerware Plates, Bowls & Serving Pieces Available $29.95

NAPCOWARE 1950′s 60′s DOG & CAT IN TEACUP BONE CHINA MINIATURE CERAMIC NAPCO $9.99

ROYAL DEVON BONE CHINA COFFEE OR TEA CUP $3.50

VINTAGE JAPAN NORITAKE FINE CHINA IRENE IVORY CHINA TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE $12.99

TUSCAN Heavy Gold ~ MIXED FLORAL ROSE ~ Teacup cup Fine Bone China $34.95

Toscany China Tea Cup October Cosmos Flower Birthday Month Ceramic Coffee Mug $8.99

Christopher Stuart Tea Set (4 cup, 4 saucer) Spring Crest Bone China! NIB $60.00

Made in China Celadon Goldfish Teacup $4.99

Tea cup & saucer – Royal Albert bone china $5.95

Nikko Tabelware China Teacup & Saucer Made in Japan $9.99

ADDERLEY Fine Bone China ~ LILY OF VALLEY ~ Floral & Gold Gilt Teacup cup $34.95

6 Sets China Hand-Painted Flower Tea Coffee Cup Saucers $6.99

FRANCISCAN LUCERNE COSMOPOLITAN CHINA TEACUP & SAUCER $14.99

Red Aves Royal Crown Derby Bone China Tea Cup and Saucer $49.99

Toscany China Tea Cup January Carnation Flower Birthday Month Ceramic Coffee Mug $8.99

FINE CHINA OF JAPAN GARLAND TEA CUP 8672 $4.49

Vintage by Fine China of Japan, Pattern 6701 Footed Tea Cup (c.1967) $1.99

THOMAS GERMANY CHILDRENS CHINA TEA CUPS SET w/ DOLL DESIGN $9.99

GOLD LEAFS TEA CUP + SAUCER SET, English Fine Bone China teacup $17.67

ANTIQUE FINE BONE CHINA TEACUP & SAUCER – ROYAL STAFFORD – ENGLAND $19.99

Used Blue Flower Royal Imperial Ridgway Footed Tea Coffee Cup England Bone China $14.99

Aynsley Bone China Tea Cup & Saucer England $10.00

Elizabethan China ENGLISH GARDEN Tea Cup – Saucer & Plate $35.00

VINTAGE NIKKO FINE CHINA GOLD FILIGREE PATRA TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE TEA SET $12.99

VINTAGE JAPAN CRESCENT FINE CHINA RANMARU TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE SET $12.99

VINTAGE LENOX HIGGINS & SEITER IVORY WHITE FINE CHINA TEA CUP & SAUCER PLATE! $12.99

VARIOUS USA HALL HOMER LAUGHLIN BONE CHINA PFALTZGRAFF CUPS & TEA CUPS LOT SET $14.99

Royal Albert Crown China Dell teacup VGU $3.99

Noritake China Chandon Tea Cup with Saucer NEW $5.76

Royal Albert bone china Matte Black & Gold Hand Painted floral ~ Teacup & Saucer $27.99

HAMMERSLEY Bone China ~ DAFFODIL ~ Floral Teacup cup YELLOW WHITE $16.95

Jyoto China – Made in Occupied Japan tea cup and saucer $8.99

Gladstone Bone China Roses & Violets tea cup and saucer $17.99

Ucagco China – Made in Japan tea cup & saucer $9.99

Chugai China Made in Occupied Japan tea cup & saucer $14.99

COLWYN 4562 TIRSCHENREUTH CHINA COFFEE TEA CUP & SAUCER $24.99

Foley Art China – England Ripon tea cup & saucer $17.99

Used Pink Flower Royal Imperial Ridgway Footed Tea Coffee Cup England Bone China $14.99

17 pc Noritake China Dinnerware Dessert Set Creamer Sugar Teacups Plates Saucers $29.95

Bone China Child’s Tea Cup / Demitasse Cup – Hand Painted – Koran China $14.95

Used Purple Royal Imperial Ridgway Footed Tea Coffee Cup England Bone China $14.99

Imperial China Tea / Coffee Cup – Whitney Pattern $15.95

Rosina Queens China Blue Flowers Footed Tea Cup & Saucer – Month July *REDUCED* $4.99

VINTAGE ROSINA ENGLAND BONE CHINA TEA CUP/SAUCER w/TINY PINK FLOWERS **REDUCED** $3.99

Antique China Rose Medallion Teacup Saucer 6-1/8″ $19.99

Antique China Rose Medallion Teacup 4″ diameter x 2″ tall $39.99

Royal Standard England Fine Bone China Tea Cup & Saucer Green With Pink Roses $12.00

Royal Chelsea English Bone China 3 piece Teacup and Saucer Set Pink Flower $9.95

Colclough Bone China Teacup & Saucer $15.99

Salisbury Fine Bone China Sweet Pea – Pink Teacup & Saucer $15.99

Vintage Fine Bone China Iridescent Floral Teacup & Saucer $15.99

Royal Albert AMERICAN BEAUTY Teacup in Bone China PINK ROSES $9.99

VTG PINK LATTICE ROSE CHILD’S CHINA TEA CUP & SAUCER SET IN BOX NEW OLD STOCK $24.99

TEA CUP/SAUCER MEAKIN CHINA BLUE ASTERS CLASSIC WHITE $22.99

Pink Rose Porcelain China Teacup and Saucer Set Japan $10.00

JOSEPH SEDGH PINK/FUCHSIA+YELLOW ROSE CHINA 12pc TEACUP+SAUCER/PLATE-NEW+BOX $49.99

NAPCO CHINA TEA CUP AND SAUCER flowers VINTAGE ANTIQUE $16.00

Gien China France Tamarin Pattern One Breakfast Tea Cup 2″ High Floral HTF VGUC $19.95

Royal Stafford HARLEQUIN Bone China England Tea Cup & Saucer – Purple/White Opal $25.00

Vintage Iridescent TEA CUP&SAUCER Hand Painted FAN CREST FINE CHINA #2647Hexagon $15.99

Vintage, TEA CUP & SAUCER, CROWNFORD FINE BONE CHINA, ENGLAND $15.99

Vintage Iridescent TEA CUP & SAUCER #2650 FAN CREST FINE CHINA JAPAN $15.99

Vintage Iridescent TEA CUP & SAUCER #2645 FAN CREST FINE CHINA JAPAN $15.99

Vintage Iridescent TEA CUP AND SAUCER Elegant Lusterware ROYAL SEALY CHINA $15.99

Vintage Lusterware TEA CUP & SAUCER, ROYAL WINSLEY CHINA 7720 $15.99

Vintage Lusterware TEA CUP & SAUCER, #2648 FAN CREST FINE CHINA JAPAN $15.99

Vintage, TEA CUP & SAUCER, ROYAL WINDSOR FINE BONE CHINA, ENGLAND $15.99

Aynsley England Bone China Peach Tea Cup Saucer $2.99