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White ceramic tea cup and saucer

Key details

Object number
3.4006.a-b
Date
1770 to 1799
On display
Yes

Description

White ceramic tea cup and saucer with red geometrical pattern on inner rim of tea cup and saucer.

Red rose pattern design on outside of cup and inner rim of saucer. The cup and saucer was part of Jean Armour's estate when she died. Therefore it is likely this is Robert’s wife’s teacup.

Early tea vessels were imported from China for British consumers and were named and looked like Chinese 'tea bowls' rather than cups. Tea began to grow in popularity in Britain from the 1720s, and at the time it was often sweetened with sugar from the West Indies. The sugar Jean likely added to her tea was probably harvested by slaves in Jamaica.

Object information

Material

Measurements

  • Diameter: 13.5(cm)
  • Height: 5.2(cm)