Pattern 2696 Spode bone china London shape Tea Cup & Saucer profusely hand-painted & decorated with a fenced Oriental garden scene, this design was introduced at Spode c1817-18.
The design incorporates ducks, flowers, trees, rocks & a fence using a multitude of enamel colours & gilding both inside & outside of the cup; this would have been a very expensive pattern to produce.
The central design is enclosed with the Chinese double blue rings which very often contained the Reign Marks on the reverse of 18th century Chinese plates, it was a mark which signified a quality product.
This design probably copied or closely followed an Oriental 18th century original Export porcelain piece from either China or Japan.
It is in very good condition & has been well cared for during the last 200 years.
Both pieces are marked to their bases with 'SPODE' & their pattern number '2696' in red enamel & both have an old collector's label. This Spode London shape Tea Cup & Saucer was part of the Zorensky Collection.
Milton & Jeanne Zorensky were prolific collectors of mainly 18th century English Worcester porcelain but they did occasionally collect pieces from other English porcelain manufacturers such as Spode & Wedgwood. Their mammoth collection of Worcester porcelain was sold in three tranches over a period of three years from 2004 to 2006.
The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge have a Spode pattern 2696 London shape Coffee Cup sadly its handle is broken & repaired, it is in their Collection which can be viewed here: