China Cups

My mother had beautiful ivory china plates rimmed in gold encircled with a lovely green wreath of leaves around the edge, but not cups and saucers to match.  However, the eclectic patterns of the various cups provided a special charm because each cup had a story.  My grandparents spent part of the winter in Arizona in their later years and each year Grandma brought her daughters-in-law a new china cup and saucer. One cup had pink, purple and white sweet peas twining around the cup, one blossomed with lily of the valley and another had magenta and pink roses adorning the sides with a rosebud peeking down the inside rim. One of my aunt's mother hand painted china and my mother had several of her cups.  These cups were more ornate in their shape and painted with delicate wild roses or lily of the valley.  One even had three golden curved legs and a broad open bowl. A deep yellow cup adorned with purple, burgandy and yellow pansies had gold trim with a gold interior.  One of mother's aunts gave her an elegant mocha bordered cup.  The favorite cup of all had a petite pattern of pink and blue cross-stitched  roses.  This dainty cup nipped inwards near the rim before fluting open wider giving a pleasing silhouette which also helped keep the coffee from cooling too quickly. Part of the fun at a family dinner was waiting to see which cup your coffee came in, and this cup was always the one each woman wanted to have because if it's delicate pattern and shape. ( I doubt the men took any note of which cup they were given.)

When I was a teenager, Grandma began bringing me a china cup and saucer as well.  I have one with dramatic red, pink and yellow roses, while tiny pink rosebuds decorate the entire outer surface on another cup. Because I love pansies, my daughter has given me several cups with these pretty purple and yellow flowers on the sides. She surprised me once on my birthday by flying in from Indiana bringing a hand-painted china tea pot, mug and teabag holder with pansies painted by a friend of hers at work.  From her world travels she also brought home a cup and saucer swirled with rich blue rose and gold from Estonia.  My sister gave me a demitasse cup in an elegant design from her visit to France, and I have several demitasse cups, one with violets and one with rosebuds from Winnipeg, Canada when I traveled with an aunt and uncle of mine.  When my husband's grandmother passed away, I received a diminutive hand painted cup with a spring green trim above a row of tiny pink roses from her collection with a note on the bottom indicating it had belonged to an aunt of hers.

My husband and I enjoy antiquing and I am drawn to the china cups I see as we visit our favorite antique stores.  Once I saw a cup just like the favorite cross-stitched one of my mother's and did not buy it, wishing later that I had.  The next time I saw that cup, I did not hesitate in my purchase, so now I have that favorite for my very own.  Even though it is not Mother's cup, it is just like it. Mom also gave me one of her hand painted cups, so the collection grows adding stories and memories.

 Below the china display shelf are pegs with mugs each telling it's own story.  One hand-painted by my aunt Gertie, who was an artist, with Mary and her little lambs and her pet name for me.  The mug is chipped and cracked but dearly loved. A black mug with a gold Mickey Mouse from Disney World reminds me of my son and daughter-in-law's honeymoon.  Another in navy blue with a gold Parker Ranch in Hawaii logo represents their visit to the ranch as part of her previous job responsibilities. A rugged pottery cup with Colorado mountains and a pretty flowered mug are mementos from my daughter's senior trip when I was the class sponsor. And finally a set of six artisan pottery cups in blue and brown swirled stripes from my son and daughter-in-law from her hometown of Salida, which I use for cappuccinos every Saturday morning. 

I delight in the beauty of each of these cups or mugs and am reminded of the people and places that I have known and visited. I am blessed to have so many wonderful memories.