Cup plate facts for kids

This is a cup plate made from pressed glass.

Imagine a time when people drank their tea not from the cup, but from the saucer! That's where cup plates came in handy. These small, special plates were like coasters. They gave you a place to rest your teacup while you sipped your tea from the saucer. This was a common custom in the early 1800s.

Cup plates first appeared in England around the early 1800s. They became very popular in the United States, especially in the 1840s. They were a clever solution for tea drinkers of that era.

What Are Cup Plates For?

It's a bit tricky to know exactly when cup plates were first used. Ceramic cup plates likely arrived in the 1820s. Glass ones followed shortly after, starting around 1827. The New England Glass Company was one of the first to make them.

Back then, good manners meant you drank your tea from the saucer. This helped cool the hot tea faster. The cup plate protected your tablecloth and table from drips or heat from the teacup. It was similar to how we use modern drink coasters today. In the 1840s, some household guides even suggested not buying teacups with handles! They said handles were "rarely used and soon knocked off."

Drinking tea from the saucer was popular in both America and Europe, but at different times. In England, this habit started to fade in the late 1700s. However, it became very popular in the United States around the same time.

Most middle-class families used cup plates. But their popularity didn't last forever. By the 1860s, drinking tea from a saucer was no longer considered polite. So, cup plates found new uses. People started using them to hold small snacks like preserves, butter, or pickles.

Designs and Materials

Cup plates were usually small, about three inches across. They were made from two main materials: glass or a type of pottery called Staffordshire pottery. The pottery plates often had beautiful blue and white designs printed on them. These pottery plates were made in England but were mostly sold to American families. The glass cup plates, however, were usually made right here in America, in places like New England and the Midwest.

Some glass designs were simple and clear. Others were milky or had a special shimmer called opalescent. They often featured patterns like circles, floral designs, fancy scroll work, or stars around the edges.

Historical and Patriotic Designs

Around 1840, new designs became popular. These plates celebrated history and patriotism. They showed pictures of important monuments, famous steamships, or portraits of well-known people.

For example, one plate honored the Battle of Bunker Hill. It showed a tall, monument-like structure. This represented the actual monument built 68 years after the battle, in 1843. Another plate celebrated the William Henry Harrison 1840 presidential campaign. It featured a log cabin, a barrel of hard cider, and a picture of Harrison himself. There was even a plate for Henry Clay, though the portrait on it actually looked like Julius Caesar!

Many cup plates also featured steamships. One rare design showed a ship with "Benjamin Franklin" written above it. Its rim had patriotic symbols like stars, anchors, and the American eagle. Another ship plate honored "Chancellor Livingston," who helped design the United States Declaration of Independence and worked on early steamboat projects. British factories also made similar blue glass plates with names of steamship lines like the Troy Line.

Most cup plates were made using a method called pressed glass. This is where hot glass is pressed into a mold to create the shape. This method became popular around the same time cup plates did. Cup plates were made from different types of glass, including flint glass and later soda glass. Their popularity began to decline after the American Civil War.

Cup Plates in America

American factories made many cup plates, often using flint glass. European companies like Baccarat also made cup plates for the American market. But most of the plates found in America were made by American companies.

Cup plates were a special way to remember important historical figures. Plates honoring people like George Washington and William Henry Harrison were called "Historicals." Being featured on a cup plate was a great honor! Today, these historical cup plates are very valuable to collectors.

Other American cup plates were called "Conventionals." These plates simply showed off the newest and most exciting abstract glass designs. They were very attractive and stylish for their time.