19th Century Davenport Porcelain Cup and Saucer Set in Pink and Gold c.1850-70

This is a charming mid-19th-century porcelain cup and saucer set produced by Davenport of Longport, Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire.

The cup is capacious and rounded, sitting on a galleried foot. It is decorated on the interior with a complex and intricate creeping vine motif in gold.

The exterior has a thick band of dark pink below the rim, which is gilded along the edge and through the centre. Below this is a band of pale yellow swags, which have their details also picked out in gold. There is a grapevine and tendril motif below this, between which are clusters of gilded spots. There is a gilded band around the edge of the foot rim.

The handle is ornate, with a finger loop and thumb rest at the apex. It has been gilded around the edges and there are three gilded fan motifs down the side.

The underside of the cup is marked in blue with the semi-circular banner motif containing the word ‘DAVENPORT’ above an anchor. This underglaze blue mark was used on porcelain products between 1850 and 1870. In addition, there is a hand-painted number ‘3157’ in red.

The saucer is decorated in the same manner as the cup and does not have a central cup ring. It is also back-stamped with the same underglaze blue mark and hand-painted with the same number in red.

The cup has a height of approximately 6.8cm, with a diameter across the rim of about 8.3cm and across the foot of about 4.3cm. The saucer has a diameter across the rim of about 17.2cm.

The cup has a liquid capacity (to the brim) of 250ml.

They have an unwrapped weight of 360g.

They are in excellent condition, with no chips or cracks, although there are some wear and tear scratches to the plate and some minor rubbing to the gilding. There is also a textured area on the edge of the saucer base which is a manufacturing artefact.