This cup and saucer survived World War 2. It once belonged to my grandmother. Together with my mother’s family it endured a Nazi Labour Camp and then a long refugee journey to their new life in England. The bottom of the cup is stamped with a hammer and sickle, the symbol of the old USSR. It’s made of porcelain and the image appears to be hand-painted. I believe it dates back to the 1920s. It now resides on a wooden mantle shelf above the stove in my living room in Northern Scotland – perhaps one of the most travelled cups in the UK!
The Purple Hermit 