051718-2/RL-1148 This is a Japanese hard paste porcelain (fine china) tiny demitasse cup, or tea cup, and saucer. The date is circa 1880. The saucer is 4 ¼”. The cup is 1 ¾” by 1 ¾”. The cup and saucer are quite beautiful, especially if you like Japanese decoration from this time period. The decorations are hand painted. On the saucer and cup there are flying swallows, in shades of black, gray and white. There are two birds on the saucer and two birds on the cup. The foliage appears to be wheat stalks blowing in the wind. Please look carefully. The one aspect of Japanese hand painting from this time period is their attention to applying dots of white moriage, and here the white dots are on the birds and the wheat stalks. The wheat also has raised dots of gold. Around the rim there is a design in brown and gold that dips down from the edges at intervals. If you look at the photo of the saucer carefully, the glaze is tinted a blue-gray, with smudges of white. This is not a ground; it is the color of the glaze. It appears to me to be an extra step they took to make it appear that the birds are flying against a sky with a few white clouds, and the way the wheat stalks are tilted indicate that there is a breeze. It is probably best viewed in person, versus a photo, to see the tints in the glaze to which I refer. I have other exceptional Japanese c and saucers from this time period. If you enjoy looking at these beautifully hand decorated treasures, just do a search in my shop under the search term “Japanese.” There is a tiny bit of roughness at one spot on the edge of the saucer. There is a little bit of gold wear. There are no nicks, chips, cracks or crazing. The porcelain is quite fine, very fragile, eggshell thin and you can see your fingers through the porcelain when holding the cup in your hand. There is no maker’s mark.