Crown Staffordshire Fine Bone China - What a find!

I popped in to one of Cheltenhams many charity shops last week and came across the most beautiful china tea cup set - which I just had to buy.

It's fine bone china made by Crown in Staffordshire England. According to my research - my china would have been made 1906 or over.

I can work this out because of the printed mark on the bottom of the cup. And by visiting Crown Staffordshire Porcelain's website.

The website lists a variety of marks used by Crown at different periods, which incredibly useful for enthusiasts like me.

The mark on the bottom of my tea cups also say 'ESTd 1801'. However the Crown Staffordshire Porcelain Co. was not founded until 1889.

For £12.50 I purchased 8 tea cups - but sadly only 7 saucers due to a breakage. I managed to get over this pretty quickly.

In fact, I am going to make it my mission to find a replacement saucer - and a tea pot to match.

There are some great websites around for buying replacement china including 'China Search' - Europe's largest discontinued china specialist.

I will let you know how I get on!