TEA CUP TUESDAY With MARTHA AND TERRI

Today's tea cup has quite a story behind it.

A sister of mine who now lives in California received some gorgeous Bavarian china many years ago.  It featured pink roses and I absolutely loved that set. 

While living in Tucson, Arizona, the local metropolitan newspaper ran a classified ad featuring Bavarian china. Wildly excited over the possibility of having my own set of Bavarian rose covered china, I called.

My husband drove with me to help me find the home of the man selling the china. He said it had belonged to his grandmother and had traveled with him to Arizona from Massachusetts after his grandmother died.  This was a real kicker because I am originally from Massachusetts, too! 

     I remember the day we responded to the newspaper ad. We had a long, hot drive into the Arizona desert to a town far from Tucson.  The man lived way off the beaten path. We drove around bends and curves and past more cacti than I ever want to see again. We finally found the house and I could hardly contain the beating of my own heart.

When the man showed me the china,  disappointment filled me like a ton of bricks. It was not the beautiful Bavarian china my sister had. (I've since found out her pattern is "Moss.")  Rather than shake my head and say "No thanks,"  I just looked at the huge set of cups, dishes, and so forth.  My husband wanted to make me happy that day by buying  Bavarian china I had set my hopes on. He knew I was terribly homesick for Massachusetts, too!  

"We'll buy it, Honey," he said. "We've come out here all this way. If you want it, we'll buy it."

Not wanting to disappoint him, nor the seller, I smiled and said, "Okay." (What a first class wimp I was in those days. ha! ) So into the car went several boxes of the china, made by Heinrich and Co., Selb,  Bavaria. The company was started in 1896. 

On the bottom of one of the cups is a small crown and the company name as well as the word "Palace."   I have never been able to find similar china by that name. However, the pattern is synonymous with "Rosalinda."

There are cascades of pink roses on all pieces. While I've never been crazy about this pattern, it has grown on me over the years. When we moved cross-country to Massachusetts, the china came with us so it's back where it started.

Apparently, this pattern was popular around 1915.  On one website, myTableware.com, it indicated the Rosalinda pattern has been "retired."

So there you have it. That's the story of my cascading roses teacup, and accompanying china, from Bavaria.

For a look at more great tea cups, check Martha and Terri's blogs: http://www.marthasfavorites.com/and http://artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/.