Description:
Cup plates were used when tea was drunk from saucers. After the tea was poured from the cup to the saucer, the cup was placed on a cup plate in order to prevent the tea from staining the tablecloth. One of two English Staffordshire cup plates decorated with a brown transfer print of a country scene with a cow in the foreground and stately building in the background in the center well and four rose buds around the rim. According to family tradition, these cup plates belonged to Sophia Stebbins (1822-1841), the daughter of Festus Stebbins (1768-1850) and Frances Dickinson Stebbins (1780-1864) who married in Springfield in 1799. The 11th of 12 children, Sophia died unmarried, and these two cup plates, sampler (HD 74.002), and teaset (HD 74.003) descended in the family of one of her older brothers, James Stebbins (1811-1892) who married Eunice Sylvia Alvord (1829-1900) in Springfield in 1857. James and Eunice's daughter, Mary Granger Stebbins (b.1863) married Charles Brewster Atwater (b.1857) in 1892, and their daughter, Margaret Sylvania Atwater (b.1894), the donor, married Joel Harris Newell. According to a handwritten label pasted on the backing of the original frame of the sampler: "Done by Sophia Stebbins - died age 9 - sister of James Stebbins Teaset is hers." There is also another small piece of paper on which is written, "Gt Aunt Sophia's dolls Tea set - about 1831." Cup plates, small plates from 3 to 4 1/2 inches in diameter, were used to hold the cup to prevent damage or staining. Before the advent of the glass pressed maching, most cup plates were earthenware, usually matching dinner and tea sets; some were blown glass with simple cut design. English potters were making cup plates along with their other tablewares in order to capture the American market; it is not known who made the first cup plate. Staffordshire potters, including Davenport, Riley, and Wedgwood, were exporting these "Anglo-American" wares, often using historical subjects, including people, views, and events. Most were made from 1800-1850, with the largest production after the war of 1812.
Subjects:
Pottery; Enamel and enameling; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+74.004A |
