4 vintage Tepco "Needles and Pine" pattern restaurant cups and saucers. The Needles and Pine pattern was made by Tepco from 1931 to 1968, and notes from their catalog describe the pattern as, "A delightful pattern illustrating branches of needles and pine cones, growing right on your own table. This is a friendly, cheerful, modern design, consisting of green and brown arranged in an overall pattern, that will harmonize with your styling and color scheme."
These 4 cups and 4 saucers are all in perfect, like new condition... a collector's dream!
Size Measures:
Cup: holds 6 fluid ounces, 3-1/4"Diameter x 2-1/2"H
Saucer: 5-1/2"Diameter x 1-1/4"H
Technical Porcelain and China Ware Company (Tepco) created heavy duty vitrified china for the restaurant and hospitality industries in El Cerrito, CA from 1930 to 1968. Tepco also had contracts with the US government to produce custom china for the Navy, Army & Veterans Administration.
Tepco was a leader in the durable china tableware market for years, making over 50 different patterns, Needles and Pine is but one of their motifs.
On a less than environmentally friendly note, Tepco used to dump their rejects into the San Francisco Bay (I know...) but, today at Point Isabel in Richmond, CA there is what is known as "Tepco Beach". Tepco Beach is made almost entirely of broken shards of Tepco china, tooling around you'll find bits and pieces of every pattern Tepco produced! Their existence after tumbling in the waves for the last 45+ years speaks to the true durability of their dishware.
ET101