Rare Wileman & Shelley China Chocolate Cup for Walter Baker & Co, Dorchester, MA

When I found this little cup, I didn't know a thing about it; I just liked the combination of this woman carrying a tray with two of the cups on it, with the "no chemicals" on the interior lip. Turns out it is a pretty special and rare thing! The cup was made by Wileman and Shelley in Staffordshire, England, exclusively for Walter Baker & Co., the first chocolate maker in the United States, based in Dorchester, MA, just outside of Boston. The woman on the cup is a version of the Baker logo: a chocolate server, called "La Belle Chocolatière," adopted by the company in 1883 after a painting by the Swiss artist Jean-Étienne Liotard called Das_Schokoladenm, which can be found at the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden, Germany. So a  unique merger of several chocolate capitals, rendered on fine china! What could be better? 

3 1/8" t x 2 1/4" d; 3 1/8" across at handle. Late 19th/early 20th century, and in very good condition, no chips or cracks or other notable flaws; there is a bit of flea biting and minor staining around the lip. If there were ever a cup to drink a very rich, real (chemical free!) cup of hot chocolate from, this would no doubt be it!