My Vintage Teacup Collection

Established in 1888, by A.T. Finney and Sons, Duchess is a name they used on some of their porcelain. It's made in Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom. See the photogallery in this article for the pottery mark.

The cup is 2-3/4 inches high and 3-3/8 inches in diameter. The saucer is 5-1/2 inches in diameter.

Wedgwood England also makes a popular pattern called "Meadow Sweet". The spelling is different and the design is very different. Whereas, the Duchess pattern is delicate flowers on a mostly white background, the Wedgwood pattern is more densely painted with modern stylized flowers.

Mikasa, Crown Ducal and Epoch make lesser know "Meadow Sweet" patterns.

Victorian Violets is a discontinued pattern. This cup dates to at least the 1970's when it was purchased.

In the Victorian era violets and pansies were a very popular decoration for china.

Hammersley and Co. began in 1862 as a china manufacturer at Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. It went through several name changes, was purchased by Carborundum Ltd. in 1966, merged with Royal Worcester Spode Ltd. in 1976, and was then taken over by Palissy Pottery Ltd., which closed Hammersley's Works in 1982. . From 1982 Palissy and Hammersley production was merged, until its final demise in 1988. The Hammersley name was sold to Aynsley in 1989

I only have a saucer for the Rossetti Spring Violets pattern.

I include it here so you can see how similar it is to the Hammersley Victorian Violets pattern.

Hammersley is on your left; Rossetti is on your right.

Both are discontinued patterns.

Not much information to be found on this one from Aynsley. It appears to be referred to by number, rather than pattern name. Where it is referred to in words, it's usually "Turquoise Blue Rim, Multifloral Design". Also it comes in burnt orange.

I purposely listed it after the other Aynsley cup so you may see the variety of designs and shapes Aynsley makes.

The cup and saucer have pine cones, holly leaves and berries with gold trim. Yuletide has been discontinued by Queen's.

This particular cup and saucer have an unusual scalloped design impressed in it. It is called "Eros" design. Look closely at the picture.

My mother used to fill this with greens and berries and put it on an end table during the holiday season.

The cup measures 3 inches high and 3 inches tall. The saucer is 6 inches in diameter.

Rosina China Co., Ltd. is located in Longton, UK and was founded in 1941. The Rosina China Co. still exists today. This cup was purchased in the 1970's.

Royal Albert also makes a pattern called "Yuletide". It's a white background with poinsettias.

There is not much information for this cup and saucer, but it's far too pretty not to include. I do know this cup was purchased in the 1970's.

I have tried doing internet searches on the manufacturer and there seems to be information overload. I keep getting site of china in the Elizabethan era, rather than the proper noun "Elizabethan". I will keep searching.

It appears Staffordshire has two patterns named "Springtime". Each is reasonably different from the other, not to be confused. The Springtime pattern not shown has more white space with just little floral garlands here and there.

The information on Staffordshire is somewhat confusing as many pottery companies are located in Staffordshire, England.

As far as dating this cup, I know we had it in the family by the 1980's. The pottery mark has the words "Bone China" in it. Staffordshire used this in the 20th century.

Celebration is a discontinued pattern. It was manufactured between 1980 and 2001. This pattern is very similar to Royal Albert's "Country Rose" (I think). Country Rose has yellow roses included in the mix.

Royal Albert also makes a similar design in all blue called "Moonlight Rose". It is beautiful.

Royal Albert was a name used by the T.C. Wild and Sons, Limited. Longton, Staffordshire, England

White background is punctuated with forget-me-nots, pansies and roses. Gold trim around saucer and cup.
Crown Staffordshire was founded in 1930. They were acquired by Wedgwood in 1973 and in 1985 they discontinued the use of the Crown Staffordshire marking on cups.

This pattern is the discontinued Floral Bouquet (Smooth as opposed to the Scalloped version.)

The saucer is 5-1/2 inches in diameter. The cup is 3-3/8 in diameter and stands 2-1/2 inches high.