Vintage Royale Stratford Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Loving Cup – Royal Arms, E II R Cipher, Gilt Acanthus, Bone China, England 2002

A two-handled loving cup, fine bone china, made in Staffordshire for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II — the fiftieth year of her reign, 1952 to 2002. On one side, the full British Royal Coat of Arms, picked out in colour and gilt: the lion and unicorn supporters, the quartered shield, the crown above, the Dieu et mon droit ribbon below. On the other, framed in the same gilt acanthus scrollwork on a deep red ground, the cipher E II R — Elizabeth II Regina. Run a finger around the inside rim and the inscription appears in gilt script, unbroken around the circumference: To Commemorate the 50th Year in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Made by Royale Stratford, a Staffordshire firm specialising in royal commemoratives and finished "Made by Hand" — the gilt is applied and the inscription painted in by hand rather than printed flat. The loving cup form itself is medieval in origin (the shared cup at a wedding feast, where the two handles let bride and groom drink in turn), kept alive by English royal commemorative china as the highest decorative tier — reserved for coronations, jubilees, and royal weddings. This one belongs to the 2002 Golden Jubilee summer.

A piece for the Queen Elizabeth II collector, for the Anglophile who wants the heavier ceremonial form rather than another mug, for a wedding or golden anniversary gift (the form alone makes the point), or for the gallery cabinet that wants one full-scale royal commemorative anchor.