| Re: I’m confused – help!
Posted by Michael  on November 3, 2008, 1:44 pm, in reply to "I’m confused – help!"
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Jessica,
Sorry nobody else from the TCC has responded to your question sooner, although the original posting came about just as our Annual Meeting was to start, so many people were away. Regarding your cups/saucers: I definitely agree with you that these are 'married' and, in fact, I think the cups are no for tea or coffe, but rather syllabub (hot punch) cups. Punch -- a mixture of many different things, including alcohol, honey, etc -- was a very popular mid-19th C. drink (something like a holiday punch today with egg nog, etc) and it was served in small cups with handles and flaring lips and sometimes a pedestal base. These did not come with saucers. Saucers or tea bowls, you will remember, were originally used to DRINK tea: hot tea was poured from a handleless cup into the saucer and sipped that way (larger surface area = quicker cooling time). The cup was then set down on a small cup plate to keep from making rings on the table top. Since saucers saw as much tea as did cups, it is not surprising that they would get stained (tea can be VERY acidic and leave dark stains), especially if drunk with lots of treacle (Molasses) or unrefined sugar. So I think the yellowing on the saucers is staining and would clean up nicely in a peroxide bath (another story). I would date your pieces to the 1840-1850 period +/- a few years. Hope this helps...Good luck
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