A collector's joy carries on...

{HISTORY}

Just about the prettiest European antique gold and white tea service set we've seen, this 14-piece ensemble is quite the intriguing charmer.

Comprised of a teapot, sugar bowl, creamer and three cups with lids and saucers, you could assume, in appearance, that this set is well on its way to being almost complete. But look closely and you'll notice some slight differences in design between the cups and the teapot and between the saucers and the cups. 

The teapot is marked on the bottom with an early impressed version of the Royal Vienna shield mark (also referred to as a beehive mark). The number 838 is impressed below the shield signifying it was made in 1838 and a capital letter i is impressed below the numbers.  

The teapot is the only piece that contains the Royal Vienna mark, but the sugar bowl and creamer are an exact design match to the teapot, so we can safely assume they all belong together. On this trio, beautiful details abound. The teapot has a gold and white striped spout, a scalloped rim, and a handle with a dot and feather-like design which is repeated again in the handle of the creamer. The sugar bowl has two leaf-shaped style handles and the same swirl shape as the creamer and the teapot. Both the sugar bowl and teapot share an identical finial-style lid. Shimmery gold bands adorn all three pieces. 

The cups and lids feature similar gold striping to the teapot, sugar bowl and creamer but they contain different knobs on the lids, different handles, and a different body style. The cups are unmarked as to maker or manufacturer. We suspect that these three may have been made in France later in the 19th century.  The porcelain on the cups and lids is much thinner and more delicate than the teapot, creamer and sugar bowl. We suspect the cups were originally intended as pots de creme.  

The saucers for the cups are marked Prag on the bottom of each - a stamp signaling that they were made in the Czech Republic perhaps for the French market as they feature a fleur-de-lis style design around the edge. While they are a lovely fit to the cups, they are not the original match as you'll notice the subtle difference in design styles between cup and saucer.

All those similarities and differences being noted, overall this is a gorgeous arrangement of an antique gold and white service set. All rare, hard-to-find pieces nowadays, the wonderfully aged appearance of each piece adds instant history to any space. Please see all photos for the subtle differences between each.

It's fun to imagine how this collection may have been curated over time. Perhaps a trip or two aboard yielded the entire ensemble piece by piece. Adventures in Paris. A weekend getaway to the Czech Republic. A summer spent seduced by the antique shops of Vienna. It's fun to imagine the delight that each piece would have brought as the collection grew, first maybe, starting with the sighting of the beautiful swirl-shaped teapot and spiraling from there.

A collector's joy never ceases. This set carries on the excitement. 

{SPECIAL FEATURES}

- Rare, hard-to-find pieces

- Contains 14 pieces total: one teapot, one creamer, one sugar bowl, three cups, five lids and three saucers

- Classic gold and white color palette 

{CONDITION}

Teapot: In wonderful antique condition. There are no chips or cracks, except for a small hairline crack underneath the knob on the teapot lid, which may have also caused some light discoloration in that area. The teapot and lid are very clean inside and out. The gold is wearing in some spots as expected with age. The teapot measures 7" inches (height - pedestal to lid) x 6.75" inches (width at widest part) x 11" inches (length - spot to handle) and weighs 2 lbs. 10 oz

Sugar Bowl: In wonderful antique condition. There are no chips or cracks except for two small age-old pencil point-sized chips near the scalloped rim of the sugar bowl and one small chip (1/4" inch in size) on the underside rim of the lid.  The sugar bowl is clean and bright both inside and out. The gold is wearing slightly in some spots around the scalloped edge and the band on the lid, as to be expected with age.  The sugar bowl measures 5.75" inches (height pedestal to top of lid) x 5.25" inches (width at widest part) x 7.25" inches (length handle to handle) and weighs 1 lb. 10 oz.

Creamer: In fairly good antique condition. The creamer contains two thin hairline cracks on the spout that can be seen from both the interior and exterior. There is one small, age-old chip (1/8th" inch in size) on the exterior rim of the spout which has caused slight discoloration in that area but is not very noticeable given its placement along the gold edge. The gold is wearing slightly in one spot on the handle. The creamer is very clean inside and out. It measures 5.5" inches (height - pedestal to top of handle) x 4" inches (width at widest part) x 5.5" inches (length - spout to handle) and weighs 14 oz.

Cups: The cups and their matching lids are in wonderful antique condition with no chips, cracks or staining. Both cups and lids are in bright and clean condition. Each cup measures 4.5" inches (height with lid) x 2.75" inches (diameter). Together, all three cups with lids weigh 1.2 lbs

Saucers: In fairly good antique condition. There are no chips or cracks except for one small hairline crack on two of the plates. One crack measures 1/2" inch  on one plate and the other measures 1" inch on the other plate. The gold is wearing heavily on all three plates adding a unique layer of authentic character to each. Each plate measures 5.75" inches (diameter). Each plate weighs 4 oz. 

{FOR THE COLLECTOR}

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