Vintage Wedgwood Ice Rose Cups and Saucers in Pale Blue, Set of Six

Vintage Wedgwood Ice Rose bone china cups and saucers, a set of six, decorated with pale blue roses and grey and gold leaves on a pure white ground, made in England.

Six cups, six saucers and not a single odd one out, which in our experience is rarer than it should be. Ice Rose was one of Wedgwood's best loved patterns of the mid century, made from around 1959 into the late 1980s, and it still looks fresh today. The roses are printed in a soft icy blue with fine grey stems and leaves, a few touched with gold, and the pattern runs around both sides of each cup so it looks pretty whichever way you hold it. The saucers carry a matching spray across the well.

The cups are a classic tapered teacup shape in fine, translucent bone china, light in the hand with a neat looped handle. Each cup measures 8.5cm across the rim and stands 7cm tall, or 11cm wide including the handle, and the saucers are 14.5cm in diameter. Every piece carries the Wedgwood Bone China Made in England backstamp with the Ice Rose pattern name. They are ready to use, and the photographs show them from every angle.

Bone china of this quality was made for everyday afternoon tea as much as for best, so we would happily see these brought out on an ordinary Tuesday. Set them out on a white linen cloth with a plate of shortbread for a pale, wintry tea table, or bring them out with coffee at the end of a dinner party. They look lovely stacked on an open dresser shelf, and the blue sits beautifully alongside other pale blue and white pieces, from Delft tiles to striped Cornishware. If you already collect Ice Rose, this is an easy way to round up a full set, and if you are new to it, six is the perfect number to start with.

A thoughtful present for a first home, a newly married couple, or anyone who believes tea tastes better in a proper cup.