Paragon China ~ A Beautiful Commemorative Teacup

When the St Lawrence Seaway opened in June of 1959, Paragon China created this beautiful commemorative pattern.

Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip were on hand to christen the waterway – an amazing technological and economic achievement! And a big enough deal for the queen to make a speech at the opening ceremony. Do you suppose she had tea from a cup like this? Let’s start our exploration, as always, with the original Instagram post.

Teacup Tuesday 21 January 2020

Happy Teacup Tuesday All! Today we have this really beautiful and cool teacup! It commemorates the visit of some famous people to Canada – can you guess who? This is one of the loveliest commemorative patterns I’ve seen – the gold against the almost teal blue, the soft pink roses, and the scalloped edge – all gorgeous! And the middle of the saucer has another beautiful design! Come on over to the blog to see it AND get the scoop on who and what! Click the link in my profile or visit MANTELandTABLE.com.

Extra Paragon China Teacup Tidbits

Just think of the room we could design with this pattern as our inspiration! When Queen Elizabeth visited for the ceremony, she took a short cruise down the seaway in the royal yacht. So I’m thinking about a salon on our own yacht!

The walls would be this lovely soft blue of course, and all the hardware would be gold. Gold satin curtains tied back at the windows so we could see the beautiful water view, and arrangements of maple leaves and pink roses throughout!

If the queen ever decided to visit our yacht, she’d feel right at home! Especially since she gave a royal warrant to Paragon China Ltd in 1953. But let’s begin at the beginning.

Manufacturer’s Info

Paragon China started life in 1897 in the famous Stoke-on-Trent pottery district. It was a partnership between Herbert Aynsley – of the Aynsley China family – and Hugh Irving. Though the original company name was Star China, they used Paragon as a trade name starting around 1900.

When Mr Aynsley retired in 1919, Mr Irving officially changed the company name to Paragon China. He passed the business down to his sons, and they kept the management of it in the family until the 1960s. Ultimately, it became part of Royal Doulton and the Wedgwood Group.

Paragon was very well regarded by the royal families, apparently, and they commissioned lot of commemorative sets for various births, anniversaries, and etc. It sounds like those commemorative sets are still quite sought after, and based on our Paragon China teacup, it’s easy to see why!

Click HERE for more Paragon info, and HERE for more St Lawrence Seaway info.

Paragon China ~ Behind the Scenes

It was a “mostly cloudy” day as they say in the weather trade, so I was watching for the sun to peek out for a minute so I could take these photos. Our house doesn’t get a lot of light inside, so I like to take my pictures outside whenever I can.

I had to move a somewhat crispy holiday garland off the bench, but other than that, it was an uneventful photo shoot. Which was very nice! Just me, my white Replica Surfaces panels, some gold satin, and a beautiful Paragon China teacup!

Teacup Shopping

If you love teacups as much as I do and want to start or add to your collection, Click HERE for the Shopping Page. Then scroll down and click on the picture of the teacup.

And remember, a portion of anything you buy from MANTELandTABLE.com goes to Habitat for Humanity and Proud Ground. With our purchases, we get to help people build homes for their own mantels and tables!

Have a Lovely Teacup Tuesday