A LITTLE PIECE OF MONTEREY HISTORY: 1890 Souvenir tea cup from the Star Shell Store, opened by the progenitor of the Boughton family

Type

Ceramics & Porcelain

Age

1850-1899

Original Or Reproduction

Antique original

This tea cup was commissioned in roughly 1890 by Iowa born Catholic immigrant Frank M. Boughton (if you're local, and you've got a Boughton in your family tree, there is a fair chance that he was your great grandad. He had many children, who went on to have many children). He was the proprietor of the Star Shell Store. There, he offered tourists visiting the nearby Hotel Del Monte (a famous hotel/restaurant which gave Del Monte foods their name) shells, rocks, and other knick knacks. Mr. Boughton commissioned this tea cup from a German manufacturer in order to commemorate the Carmel Mission, a distinctly Catholic attraction that was at the time inaccessible by train (and over two hours away by foot!) As a part of his order, he most likely sent the factory one of the many local postcards that featured a photograph of the Carmel mission taken roughly 15 years prior (about 1875). From this they would've created a number of teacups with matching saucers (based on similar German made blanks from the time, the saucers would've likely been scalloped with gold trim. They may have been painted with a blue stripe to match the inside of the teacup.) Mr. Boughton's store seems to have been a short lived venture: all of the evidence I could find for its existence is between June and December of 1890, during which he advertised in the local paper. As far as I can tell, this is the oldest teacup to feature the Carmel Mission in existence: and is potentially the last of its kind left (no other examples online). It is an attractive tea cup in its own right, but it is made interesting through its connections with the Carmel Mission, the Hotel Del Monte, the local bathhouse (which was directly opposite the store, you can see the structure that housed the shop in archival photographs of the bathhouse), and the local Boughton family: who are still active members of this community. As far as I can tell, I know none of them personally. I might surprise one of the many Boughtons with this listing, and they may or may not be surprised by this bit of family lore. I'm putting it up for sale in hopes that someone passionate about the history of this area would want it for their collection (I just like tea cups) or that someone would buy it for the special tea cup loving Boughton in their life.