I'll never get over my affection for antique Staffordshire child's cups, which I love for their forms as well as for their transfer decoration, hand-colored in this case. But what sold me on this early (c. 1820s-30s) and rare one--one of a number made featuring Franklin's Maxims, which I found together with another I just listed, and both of which I'd never seen before--was the text reading "Little Strokes Fell Big Oaks / By diligence and patience the mouse eat in two the cable." A wise man was Franklin, and what a good bit of wisdom to impart to a child, and to remind oneself of too--then and now! This cup, including for the fabulous bearded lumberjack in rose colored shirt, makes me purely happy. This particular cup is in the collection of the New York Historical Society, purchased from the very fabulous sculptor and collector Elie Nadelman in the 1930s.
2 1/2" tall x 2 9/16" in diameter; 3 1/2" across at handle. Fairly good overall condition, with plenty of stains, some roughness around the lip and base, and imperfections to the original transfer, native to the cup. There is an old repair to the lip of the base as documented. Personally I really like these showing their age and histories of use.
