What is a cup plate? During the early nineteenth century, hot tea was served in handleless cups. The tea was poured into a deep saucer to cool, and one then drank from the saucer. The cup was placed on a small cup plate to prevent the staining of furniture and linens.

The word saucer is used for the dish used beneath a tea cup but at one time it actually was used for sauces. The saucer above on the left is an example of a deep dish saucer, it does not have the cup ring in the center. Later, a cup ring was added to saucers to hold the cup in the center of the dish. On the right is the tea cup saucer that we are used to seeing today with the center ring.

In 1982, Kaleidoscope, Inc. presented a series of thirteen Nursery Rhyme cup plates hand pressed by The Fenton Art Glass Company of Williamstown, West Virginia. The literature accompanying the cup plates state they were “a limited edition of 15,000 plates and that second quality plates and the moulds were destroyed after production. Each cup plate features both the Fenton “Oval” and the Kaleidoscope, Inc. “Star” trademarks.”

Each boxed cup plate includes a card, giving a brief history of the nursery rhyme represented on the plate. I was presented with two of the plates by my dear friend Melissa. They represent “Jack and Jill’ in teal colored glass and “Humpty Dumpty” in Lollipop yellow. They are perfect escorts for my porcelain Teavana teapot and handleless cups.