A teacup is a cup for drinking tea. It generally has a small handle that may be grasped with the thumb and one or two fingers. It is typically made of a ceramic material and is often part of a set which is composed of a cup and a matching saucer or a trio that includes a small cake or sandwich plate. These in may be part of a tea set combined with a teapot, cream jug, covered sugar bowl, and slop bowl. Teacups are often wider and shorter than coffee cups. Cups for morning tea are conventionally larger than cups for afternoon tea.
Higher quality teacups are typically made of fine white translucent porcelain and decorated with patterns. Some collectors acquire numerous one-of-a-kind cups with matching saucers. Such decorative cups may be souvenirs of a location, person, or event.
In Europe, fine porcelain tea cups, such as French Limoges porcelain from a kaolin base heated in ovens or Chinese porcelain, were a luxury for enjoying tea time. These cups are made with a handle and are paired with a saucer in a set and often feature hand painted decoration and gold or silver patterns, especially lining the rim and the handle.
In the Chinese culture teacups are very small and hold between 20 and 50 ml of liquid. They are designed to be used with Yixing teapots or Gaiwan. In Russian-speaking and West Asian cultures influenced by the Ottoman Empire tea is often served in a Faceted glass held in a separate metal container with a handle, called a zarf in Turkish and Arabic, the podstakannik being its Russian cousin.
