3 Metlox Grape Cups and Saucers

THREE METLOX POPPYTRAIL SCULPTURED GRAPE CUP AND SAUCER SETS - SIX PIECES Three vintage California earthenware cup and saucer sets in the Sculptured Grape pattern by Metlox Poppytrail, six pieces in all. Each cup is a footed, ring-turned form with a sculpted vine handle finished in mossy olive-green, decorated on one side with a raised, hand-painted cluster of blue grapes, deep green and gray-green grape leaves, curling gold-brown tendrils, and small pale yellow blossom buds, the reverse left plain white. Each saucer has a scalloped edge with the pattern's full embossed grape-and-leaf border running around the rim, a soft olive-green line following the scallops, and a plain ring-turned well. These are the same pattern as the other Sculptured Grape lots offered separately in this sale, including additional cup and saucer sets, dinner, salad, and bread plates, the large oval platter, the gravy and butter pieces, the creamer and sugar, and the shakers, so bidders building or filling out a service should follow those lots as well. All six pieces are notably clean and bright with strong color, and the primary flaw is light rubbing to the olive rim line on the saucers along with faint use marks. Ready for everyday use, a coffee service, or shelf and hutch display. Sold as a lot of six pieces, three cups and three saucers. Description Three cups, footed with ring-turned bodies and applied sculpted vine handles glazed olive-green, raised grape and leaf decoration hand-painted on one side. Three saucers with scalloped rims and a continuous embossed grape, leaf, tendril, and blossom border, plain center wells. Glazed earthenware, hand-painted over the embossed relief on an off-white ground. Cups measure approximately 3-1/4 inches tall and approximately 3-1/2 inches across the rim per the tape-measure photographs. In the height photograph the tape hook is standing on the tabletop beside the cup, and in the rim photograph the hook is resting on top of the cup rim rather than clamped to it, so both figures are close estimates. Saucers measure approximately 6-1/4 inches in diameter per the tape-measure photograph. The tape hook is laid on top of the saucer rim rather than hooked over the edge, so this figure is also a close estimate. Bidders should verify all dimensions from the photographs. The saucer undersides carry the circular printed backstamp reading "POPPYTRAIL BY METLOX - MADE IN CALIFORNIA". The stamp is legible but unevenly printed, with several letters in "METLOX" faint or skipped and a dark inked or printed numeral overlapping the lower arc of the mark that cannot be reliably read, so no number is claimed. The cup bottoms are plain glazed white with no backstamp visible, showing only a few small dark kiln specks, so no mark is claimed on the cups. Attribution note Metlox Pottery operated in Manhattan Beach, California, founded in 1927 by T. C. Prouty and his son Willis Prouty, first making outdoor ceramic signs and then dinnerware under the Poppytrail name from the early 1930s until the plant closed in 1989. Replacements, Ltd. catalogs this pattern as Sculptured Grape by Metlox in the Poppytrail-Vernon line, discontinued, with production running roughly from 1963 to 1986, and describes it as raised blue grapes with green leaves and vines on a white ground, listing the saucer at about 6-1/8 inches. Related versions exist, including an all-white grape pattern and a pink grape colorway, so buyers matching an existing service should compare colors closely against the photographs. Identification and dating here are offered as the consignor's photo-based opinion and are not guaranteed. Bid on the items as pictured. Condition Used vintage condition, sold as-is. The olive-green line along the scalloped saucer edges is rubbed and thinned in places, with bare glaze showing through at some scallops. Light gray utensil and stirring marks and faint use haze are present in the saucer wells and cup interiors. Scattered small dark kiln specks and a few faint tan flecks appear on the cup bottoms and saucer undersides. The saucer backstamps are unevenly printed and partly illegible, with an indistinct numeral overprinted at the bottom of one mark. Light glaze crazing may be present but is faint and not strongly evident in the photographs; assume typical age crazing consistent with mid-century earthenware. No chips, cracks, or repairs are apparent in the photographs, though the pieces have not been examined under magnification and no such guarantee is made. Photos are part of the description. Notes for bidders Glazed earthenware is not dishwasher or microwave recommended; hand wash gently in warm water and dry promptly. Do not soak crazed pieces, since moisture can enter the glaze lines and stain the body. Use felt or paper separators when stacking saucers, and never hang or lift a cup by the sculpted vine handle alone. Only the pieces pictured are included in this lot. Terms Sold as-is, where-is, with no warr