collection of Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent

Description:

Bone china cup and saucer with printed design in purplish-red. The pattern has elements reflecting the arts and craft interest in Japanese design, especially the inclusion of the sunflowers which appear in three vignettes around the saucer and on the front of the cup. However the designer has not committed completely to Japonism, and includes more benign elements of flowering branches with birds.

The mark on this piece includes a registered number, 6761 that dates to 1884, after which the pattern may have been made for a number of years;  the initials B&M are for the manufacturers Burton & Morris of Longton, Staffordshire.