- Beautiful Vintage Blue Ridge "Crab Apple" Teacup Southern Potteries, Inc.
- Three small chips, no cracks, this piece is in Good Condition for being underwater all of these decades! We found it completely intact in the Wisconsin River in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. We cleaned it the best that we could, and the remaining remnants just add more character to this beautiful piece of history!
- SOLD: AS IS
- This Vintage Blue Ridge "Crab Apple" teacup carries a rich history as a classic piece of American folk-art dinnerware, manufactured by Southern Potteries, Inc. in Erwin, Tennessee, where it was highly popular from the late 1930s until the factory's closure in January 1957. Originally founded in 1916 by a railroad company to promote local mountain industries, the factory utilized massive local deposits of kaolinite and feldspar to produce high-quality ceramics. In 1938, the company revolutionized the industry by shifting away from lifeless, standard decal decorations to pioneer a vibrant, hand-painted underglaze technique under the brand name "Blue Ridge." Hundreds of local women from the surrounding Appalachian region were trained to use freehand folk art brushstrokes to apply bold floral and fruit patterns directly onto unfired clay, ensuring that no two pieces were exactly identical. At its peak during and immediately following World War II, Southern Potteries became the largest producer of hand-painted dinnerware in the United States, churning out over 17 million pieces a year. Introduced during these peak production years in the 1940s, the Crab Apple pattern (Pattern #4095) became an instant favorite for its cheerful, rustic farmhouse aesthetic, featuring vibrant, rich red apples alongside green foliage set against a creamy white pottery base—typically utilizing the distinct "Colonial" blank shape. Although the rise of cheap foreign imports and plastic Melmac dinnerware ultimately forced the plant to close in 1957, these unique, hand-painted tea cups remain highly collectible today.
- 2 1/2” Tall 3 3/4” Wide
-We cleaned this piece out of Wisconsin waterway!
-Ed the Diver & Christie B. Stickers & signed picture postcard included with order!
- Tax & shipping costs applied at checkout
