These little tear drop shape cups with their curious handle fitting at one end are custard cups.  While the maker of these is unknown, we can date the form generally to the end of the eighteenth century or first decade of the nineteenth. 

The form reveals its rather simple construction.  A slab of clay was rolled out and impressed with a die-pattern from a wheel device called a roulette.  In this case, an additional chain link pattern of sprigging in a contrasting color was applied to one edge.  This slab was then then cut to the specified length and rolled into the cup form with the ends squeezed together to create the simple handle.  This cup shape was attached to a separate slab of clay creating the bottom, at which point the piece was fired. In this example, a glaze has been applied to the interior creating a barrier between the custard and the porous cane ware body. 

Foodies who equate "custard" with the baked egg and cream concoctions popular today scratch their heads over the impracticality of these pieces. At the time, however, "custard" referred to a creamy liquid that we would probably call eggnog. A very sophisticated collector of these cups, whom we are fortunate enough to know, suggests that the cups were used to pour small servings of the cream over a dessert pudding. Still, one has to wonder a bit at the finesse required to hold tight to those stubby handles.