Hollinshead and Kirkham Cup, 1930's: Statement of Significance

  

Figure 1. Front of the cup. There are two spots of chipped damage on the top and bottom of the image. There is a scratch line along the blue dots on the cottage path. 

The teacup is an earthenware ceramic with tin delft-like overglaze, decorated with a cottage and flower scene on one side, green and blue ‘drips’ from the top rim, and a dark blue line on the rim circumference (See Fig. 1). The ‘Made in England’ on the base, combined with the green unicorn of the stamp meant that it was made between 1933-1942 from Hollinshead and Kirkham (H&K) Tunstall (Ravenhill, 2021).  

Earthenware such as ironstone and creamware was used by the United Kingdom to replace the more expensive Chinese porcelain in the 19th century, and fully patterned tea sets were more popular and widely produced. However, the individual painted design here is valuable. The characteristics of the ‘homestead’ design make the cup rarer than others from H&K. It arrived in Ontario, Canada after 1934, which according to the makers mark, is the earliest year the cup could have been exported to Canada in the Darlison family farmhouse.  

 

Figure 2. View of the base of the cup. There are spots of dirt damage on the feet of the base, as well as a line of glaze removed, beneath the two black marks. These imbedded dots could be the result of soluble salt crystallization over the years. 

Once it was moved to California it gathered dust and debris from 2008 until 2021, when it was transported to England. There are chips on the outside of the rim, and a few on the edge of the outer base. These chips are of both the glaze and have small bits of clay also removed. However, there are no detached pieces evidential from the chipped spots, and so cannot be replaced. The existing chips in the cups surface are not on the main cottage and flower decoration, and so the image is not in danger (See Fig. 3). In the bottom of the cup is a ring of slight discolouration that seeps into a few of the hairline cracks (see Fig. 2). There are no previous treatments done to the object as there are no pieces to reattach, or any areas of immediate risk to the integrity of the cup. 

 

 

 

Figure 3. Map of damage of the teacup. The light grey lines are the painted details. The green marks are any small divots or scratches in the glaze surface. The red outlines are spots of chipped glaze to the point of glaze loss, where the ceramic is visible.