Tea-cupa Story

The theme for the first week of Gracious Hospital-i-tea's Blog-a-thon is to tell the story of a favorite tea cup. I shared about my favorite thistle tea cup a few weeks back, but this is another favorite of mine.

I didn't grow up in a family that used tea cups. I don't think that we even owned a tea cup and saucer. We usually had the basics, but there was rarely money for extras. Sometimes I remember drinking some peppermint tea from a heavy mug. Sometimes grandma made some sun tea when the weather got hot, but other then that, there just wasn't much tea around.

When I read about tea parties and saw pictures of beautiful tea cups, I really longed to own one, but it was long after I graduated from college before I owned my first tea cup. This tea cup wasn't my first one, but it was my first beloved tea cup. When I saw it at an estate sale, I snatched it up quickly, and hoped they wouldn't charge too much because it was just what I wanted. It was similar to my dream of what the perfect English tea cup would look like, covered with flowers inside and out, including pink roses. I really was thrilled to own such a pretty cup. I just love that it is beautiful on the inside too. It reminds me of how God wants us to be, not only pretty on the outside, but pretty on the inside too, because He makes it so.


I was curious today if I might learn some more about this tea cup. The bottom the cup says it is made by Roslyn Fine Bone China, Made in England. The pattern is Black Velvet, number 8555. I don't know anything about the woman who once owned it. I'm guessing that because it is in such good condition, that it sat many years in a china closet, too pretty to use. I wondered if it might have been a gift from an English relative, or a souvenir from her world travels. I won't ever know the answers to these questions but I wondered if I might find out something about the company that made this tea cup.

I went searching on the web and learned that Roslyn Fine Bone China was made at Park Place Works, Longton, England from 1946 to 1963,. Previously the Roslyn company was called Reid and Co. and they made fine china from 1913 to 1946. I learned that my cup was made sometime between 1950 and 1955, when they put the name of the pattern in a banner. The pottery factory is now a museum. You can see some examples of other Roslyn works here.

When guests come for tea at my house, this is often the tea cup that I let them use, because maybe they too have never held a pretty English tea cup in their hands before. Maybe when they hold this pretty cup in their hands and share friendship they will know more clearly just how precious and beautiful they are to me and to God.