Black engraved images contrast brilliantly with the bright yellow ground glaze of these graceful cups and saucers. The images, derived from the drawings of the Irish portraitist and miniaturist Adam Buck, depict comely mothers affectionately attending to their children. The details--costume, coiffure, and furniture all recall the styles of the ancient world, but even more so the neoclassical styles current at the time of production. Simple black enamel striping and brush strokes finish the piece without disrupting the overall chaste and restrained quality of the design.

Images copied from or inspired by Buck's drawings appear on engravings, printed fabrics, decorated furnishings, and both porcelain and earthenware. None are more dramatic, however, than those featured on the bold yellow of the so-called "canary glaze," produced both in the Staffordshire and Sunderland regions as well as in France. Aggressively sought out by collectors a generation or so ago, they have all but disappeared from the market. They remain, nevertheless, one of the most effective means of evoking the classical domestic taste of the early nineteenth century. A more detailed discussion of these cups and saucers is contained in "Seekers Journal."