Museum number
P85A
P85B
P85C
Object
Chocolate cup, cover and saucer, soft-paste porcelain, Chelsea-Derby Porcelain Factory, about 1770
Description
Two-handled Chocolate Cup (a) , Cover (c) and Saucer (b), English, Chelsea-Derby, c 1775. Soft-paste porcelain decorated in enamel colours with gilding. The two-handled cup with scroll handles highlighted with gilding, gilt dentil edge to rim both inside and out, double-ogee shaped bowl decorated in enamel colours with sprays of naturalistic flowers including roses, forget-me-nots and primulas, with other smaller sprays, two small sprays of blue flowers inside the cup just below the rim disguising firing marks, gilt band around waisted foot rim; the cover with with double loop handle highlighted with gilding, decorated in enamel colours with two sprays of naturalistic flowers and two tiny individual leaves, gilt dentil rim; the deep double-ogee shaped saucer with gilt dentil rim, gilt trembleuse ring edged with green laurel band, the surface decorated in enamel colours with sprays of naturalistic flowers and small individual flowers and leaves, the foot rim decorated with a gilt line.
Materials
Porcelain
Inscription
D crossed with anchor in gold, for Chelsea-Derby, in use from 1770.
On display?
Yes

Further description

Simple name
cup
lid
saucer
Subject
Floral
Dimensions
regular: 12.065cm (w)
Chocolate cup, cover and saucer Chelsea-Derby Porcelain Factory Soft-paste porcelain, about 1770 P85 Bequest of James Calder, 1944 Tea is our National Drink. It’s drunk by everyone. In the eighteenth century it was an expensive luxury. To drink it was to make a statement about how rich and fashionable you were. It was responsibility of the mistress of the house to make and serve the tea. She held the key for the tea chest. Green tea was initially preferred but by the 1720s, cheaper black tea had become more popular. Boiling water was supplied from a tea kettle. New forms appeared for serving and drinking the new hot drinks. Cups of different shapes were used to drink tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Tea pots were small and squat. Coffee pots were conical or pear-shaped.

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