3 Desert Rose Cup Sets

HREE FRANCISCAN DESERT ROSE CUPS AND SAUCERS - HAND-DECORATED GLADDING, McBEAN & CO. CALIFORNIA EARTHENWARE - ONE CUP WITH A HAIRLINE CRACK Three cup and saucer sets in Franciscan Desert Rose, America's best-known hand-painted dinnerware pattern. Each cup is a low, wide-bowled form on a small foot with the pattern's distinctive molded green branch handle, and each is hand painted with open pink wild roses, rosebuds, glossy green leaves, and tan thorn-and-twig sprays over a warm off-white glaze. The saucers repeat the rose band around a scalloped, embossed twig-molded rim with the soft green edge line. Bright, cheerful, and instantly recognizable - perfect for filling gaps in an existing Desert Rose service, adding to a cup-and-saucer collection, or setting a country table. Sold as a lot of six pieces: three cups and three saucers. Description Three cups: Desert Rose teacup form, wide flared bowl on a small ringed foot, with the molded and green-glazed branch handle. Each measures approximately 2-1/4" tall and approximately 3-3/4" to 4" across the rim per the tape-measure photographs. Three saucers: round with a scalloped, embossed twig-and-leaf molded rim and a recessed cup well, measuring approximately 6" to 6-1/4" in diameter per the tape-measure photographs. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. Decoration is hand painted under the glaze - open five-petal pink roses with yellow-and-black stamen centers, pink buds, green leaves in two tones, and brown-tan thorny stems, finished with a soft green wash along the saucer rim. Cup backstamp: small brown printed mark reading MADE IN / U.S.A. with a small character below, which is the abbreviated mark Franciscan used on cups. Saucer backstamp: circular black mark reading FRANCISCAN in Gothic lettering around MADE IN / CALIFORNIA / U.S.A., over HAND DECORATED, over GLADDING, McBEAN & CO., with OVEN-SAFE around the lower edge. Attribution note Franciscan Desert Rose was introduced in 1941 by Gladding, McBean & Co. of Los Angeles and went on to become the best-selling American dinnerware pattern ever made, produced in California into the mid-1980s before later production moved overseas under the Wedgwood era. Replacements, Ltd. catalogs the California-made USA-marked pieces as the earlier and generally more desirable production. The circular "Gladding, McBean & Co." backstamp seen on these saucers is one of the earlier Franciscan marks, used before the company's later corporate-name marks, which places these sets in the earlier decades of production. Dating is offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion drawn from the backstamp and is not guaranteed. Bid on the items as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. One cup has a hairline crack in the glazed underside: a fine line running in from the foot ring across the base for roughly three-quarters of an inch, with a short branching fork near its end. It is clearly visible in the base close-up photographs and should be considered a structural flaw. That cup is offered as a display or decorative piece and is not recommended for hot liquids or dishwasher use. The remaining pieces show general age wear including light utensil and stacking scratches, faint gray marks, and small dark specks in the glaze; cup interiors show light overall wear and minor staining. Rims, scalloped saucer edges, molded twig detail, and the applied branch handles are the vulnerable areas on this pattern and should be examined closely in the photographs for fleabites, nicks, and glaze losses. Photos are part of the description. Notes for bidders Franciscan Desert Rose is durable earthenware, but hand washing is recommended for older pieces, and the cracked cup in particular should be kept dry and used for display only. Avoid microwaves, sudden temperature changes, and abrasive scouring, which dull the hand-painted decoration. Only the three cups and three saucers pictured are included in this lot. Terms Sold as-is, where-is, All sales final. Please ask any questions before bidding. Buyer is responsible for pickup or shipping arrangements per auction terms.