Unmarked Bone China Cup/Saucer, Old?

I have a china cup and saucer that are family heirlooms that claim to have come from England or Ireland in 1875 or so. They are unmarked, and to my eye appear quite old. I do a lot of genealogy and probably am just as interested in which family they came over with as I am the china. Can anyone tell me anything about them? Age/pattern/country etc?

 

Hello and welcome Jim! It's hard to tell from the pictures but these look like they might be what is called "copper lustre" or possibly "pink lustre". You could try researching those terms on google and see if match. If so the dating you were given is probably pretty close. Most copper lustre and pink lustre are English.
Don

 

Id guess 1840 or so,maybe English.

 

I'd agree, with that handle. I'd like to see the base, even unmarked.

 

This site gives some information on cup handles. The "7" handle shown are Spode and Miles Mason. Miles Mason was early 19th C so the date could be early-ish.

Seeing the base could be helpful. Also look for impressed marks or even small marks on the inside of the footrim.

I have a teabowl saucer with gilt flowers that is somewhat similar that my notes say is Chamberlain Worcester late 18th C. I'm not suggesting your is that, just that it was popular early and may have been for a long time.

Many patterns are well documented so it might be possible to find. I'll look through a few books when I get a chance (babysitting a crawler at the moment).

http://www.chinacupboard.co.uk/cups2.htm#others

 

that is a great site, thanks for posting it SIS

 

Thank you Don. I have looked at some copper lustre images and I see some that are similar, except none have the same flower details. I'm no flower expert but wonder what these stylized flowers might be? Could be a clue.

 

Thank you. The base is completely unmarked and has no impressions of any kind. There are 12 subtle "flutes" I would call them defining the shape. The flower motif is carried inside to the bottom of the cup as well.

 

Here is another view of the base hopefully shows more.

 

Thank you SIS. I have posted some other pictures of the cup base to another thread here. I do not see any marks of any kind on the footrim. Now that I am handling the cup again the handle does seem very much like a "7" as you describe. It is quite petite to hold. I have 2 sets only of this pattern. They differ considerably in the size of the flower gilding and also the cup openings at the top are very different, much wider on one. I'm guessing that they would have been individually painted by different persons.

 

You are most welcome, Jim. Identifying the flowers could be a bit difficult. You frequently find flowers depicted in china decorations that nature never intended or, as in your case, are vastly oversimplified. That being said, the flowers with the dropping petals might be coneflowers.

SIS gave you a wonderful (as usual) and much more helpful answer than anything I provided. I can only add that these items are often found unmarked. Frankly, they were not meant to last very long. They were mass produced for the still emerging middle class. It was expected they would be broken and discarded within a relatively short period of time.

The exact age of the cup and saucer may not be too helpful in your genealogy quest. I don't know what year your family emigrated but the cup and saucer may have already existed for decades before they made the journey. I envy you your family heirlooms. Heirlooms in my family are very few and far between and none exist from prior to emigration.
Don

 

Daisies.