Vintage Queen's Rosina Quebec Teacup and Saucer – White Madonna Lily, Village Church Scene, Canadiana Souvenir, Bone China England 1960s

A fluted English bone china cup and saucer printed with a Quebec scene — a white church spire above red and yellow farm roofs, hills running off behind — and, in the foreground, a spray of white lilies. Quebec is written beside the flowers in gold script, and the rim and handle are gilded.

The lily is the part worth knowing about. In 1963 Quebec adopted the white Madonna lily as its floral emblem, chosen for its likeness to the fleur-de-lis on the provincial flag. The choice was argued over for years, since the plant is Mediterranean and does not grow wild anywhere in the province, and in 1999 it was set aside in favour of the blue flag iris, which does. So the flower painted on this cup held its title for thirty-six years and then lost it — the souvenir now records an emblem that has been retired.

That also dates the piece rather neatly. The mark on the base was in use from the early 1950s onward, and the lily only became official in 1963, which places the cup in the sixties or seventies, when British potteries were turning out province-by-province souvenirs for the Canadian tourist trade in some quantity.

Collectors of those still work through them province by province, which is why a single well-kept set finds a buyer readily enough. This one has kept its gilding unbroken at rim and handle — usually the first thing to go — and the printing is as clear as the day it left Longton.

A quiet piece of Canadiana for a china cabinet, and a thoughtful thing to give someone from Quebec.