Vintage Royal Stafford Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Teacup Saucer – Full Colour Wreath Portrait, Commonwealth Shields, Bone China 1953

The portrait on this cup is printed in full colour rather than the usual black outline — Elizabeth II crowned and sashed, set inside a laurel wreath with a rose, a thistle and a daffodil worked into the leaves and a yellow bow tied at the foot. The lettering is violet, which is also unusual; most coronation china of 1953 used black, gold or red-brown, and purple had been the colour of the coronation robes since long before there was china to print it on.

To either side of the portrait are groups of shields and flags. Alongside the Union flag are the arms and ensigns of the dominions — Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the rest. Coronation ware of 1937 tended to picture an Empire; by 1953 the imagery had shifted to a Commonwealth, because the office had. The London Declaration of 1949 had made Head of the Commonwealth one of the sovereign's titles, and on 2 June 1953 Elizabeth II became the first monarch crowned holding it, with the oath rewritten to name each realm in turn.

Both cup and saucer carry the same brown printed mark: Royal Stafford, Bone China, Made in England, Est. 1845. Matching marks matter on a pair, since two pieces brought together in later years rarely agree. The shop's other Royal Stafford set of the same year is marked in black and abbreviates the date differently, so the firm was evidently running more than one coronation pattern at once, in more than one batch. Being bone china rather than the earthenware most coronation ware used, the body is whiter and harder, which is why the colour has stayed so clean under the glaze.

Seventy years on the violet has not faded and the gilding on rim and handle is unbroken.