Vintage Aynsley Orange Teacup & Saucer – Raised White Roses, Hammered Relief Body, Gilt Scalloped Rim, Fine Bone China, England 1970s

A footed teacup and matching saucer in deep, warm orange, white roses opening across the cup and around the saucer rim. The whole surface is dimpled — moulded with a hammered texture, so light breaks across it in small facets rather than sliding off. The rims wave, and are gilded. The handle is a white double scroll picked out in gold; the cup interior is plain white.

The roses are built up, not printed. White enamel was laid over the orange ground thick enough that the petal edges stand proud — catch the cup in side light and each bloom throws a small shadow. The dark lines inside the petals are the ground colour left showing through, so the roses were drawn by reserving the orange and working the white around it, not by painting on top. The hammered body underneath is the second decision: Aynsley used this dimpled blank on few patterns, and it does its best work under a solid colour, where nothing competes with the texture. The gilding follows the wave of the rim by hand; the handle's scroll is gilded along its outer curve and left white inside.

Circa 1970s to 1980s. Both pieces carry the green crown mark reading AYNSLEY with EST 1775 above and FINE ENGLISH BONE CHINA below — the later form of the mark, which replaced the plainer ENGLAND / BONE CHINA wording in the seventies. Cup and saucer match and are an original pair.

Longton, in the Staffordshire potteries. Solid grounds in orange, yellow and green were Aynsley's answer to the seventies, when a coloured cup was expected to hold its own on a table rather than disappear into it. Orange is the least often seen of the group, and it pairs well with the turquoise version of the same rose pattern also in this shop.