Collecting teacups and saucers can be a rewarding pastime, often conjuring memories of comforting care provided by a friend or relative. Sets can be acquired for pennies making teacup collecting accessible to virtually anyone, yet values that reach into the hundreds maintain appeal to the more committed collector.
Cups designed for specific hot beverages emerged in the seventeenth century. The first teacups were made of silver, which was quickly found to be a poor choice for delivering hot beverages. Small porcelain and stoneware bowls were imported from China by the East Indian Trading Company starting in the early 1600’s, a tea-drinking solution that Europeans found uncomfortably hot and overly messy. In the eighteenth century handles became available on the tea-bowls to those who could afford the luxury and by 1810 handles were routinely fitted to the tea-bowls giving rise to the contemporary teacup.
Not all handled cups with a matching saucer are teacups. Coffee cups and saucers are most prevalent as they were routinely included as an essential part of dinnerware services alongside teacup and saucer sets. Coffee cups and saucers are typically larger with a wider more pronounced rim. The more obscure chocolate cup typically has straighter sides and a matching lid, which if missing could make identification difficult.