Tea cup and saucer from Capt James Cook?

A family friend (Cheryl) who passed away recently gave us two tea cups and saucers. She was well educated, well travelled and had a sharp mind right to the end. She was not of the type to embellish stories.
Cheryl's story... Her well to do father had acquired these on one of his worldly trips and that they had originally belonged to Capt James Cook. Capt Cook kept these at Skaill House. Cook then went to the south seas and never returned. The cups and saucers then became the property of the Scarth's. At some point thereafter they became the property of Cheryl's father.
Some of the painting looks sloppy. The handle on the one cup looks a bit crooked. If these didn't come from such a reputable person I would not be bothered to make this inquiry.
Any help identifying the age and origin would be appreciated.

 

look in this direction........

ANTIQUE JAPANESE KUTANI SATSUMA 1000 THOUSAND FACES SCHOLARS TEA CUP SAUCER





& btw........while the story is cool , it adds to the love of the items and your late friend..... but not to their market value... unless you can prove they were Cooks.

 

They are antique, but made over a century after Cook's death. They could have been kept in one of Cook's houses by later occupants, but there is no relation with James Cook.

Isn't Skaill House in Orkney, and not related to James Cook (that I know of)? Or is there another Skaill house?

 

Beat me to it, that set is way after Cook. Very pretty.

 

HAND PAINTED? Someone had the patience of MANY SAINTS!!!!!

 

Oh goodness, I toured Skaill House just a few years ago while visiting the archaeological site of Skara Brae which is on the grounds. I can't say I remember the Captain Cook connection but it does appear there is one and his dinner service is there.


"Today, after careful restoration work, the house is open to the public. Skaill House has been accredited by Visit Scotland as a four star visitor attraction. There are many rooms to explore and stories to uncover. Visitors can experience a family home as it was in the 1950s, and discover the items collected by the family since the 17th Century. Neolithic and Iron Age finds, Captain Cooks’s dinner service, the Bishop’s bed , and Stanley Cursiter paintings are a few of the many fascinating items on exhibition here."
https://skaillhouse.co.uk/the-house/


Photo: Captain Cook's dinner service at Skaill House

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Locatio...romness_Mainland_Orkney_Islands_Scotland.html



"Stromness had many famous visiting ships, but none more so than Captain Cook’s ships, ‘Discovery’ and ‘Resolution’, which called in to the town in 1780. On board were 180 crewmen who were making their first British landfall after Cook had been killed in Hawaii during a four year voyage to find the northwest passage through the Bering straits.

In order to pay for diversions in port, the crew sold many of Cook’s items in advance of wages, and so many historical artefacts from Captain Cook’s voyages ended up in Orkney. George Low, an Orkney naturalist, did very well; Cook had been collecting specimens of natural history from the south seas. Captain Cook’s dinner service can be seen in Skaill House and more items, a tea set and spears from the South Seas, are housed in Stromness Museum."

https://www.northlinkferries.co.uk/orkney-blog/fascinating-facts-about-stromness/

 

Ah, that explains it, thank you. So Cook didn't live there, may not have been there at all, but his men needed money when they finally reached the British Isles without their captain.

 

Sounds like it. My photos of the house don't have any of this porcelain though my photo of it's pink bathroom did prove a fun thing to pass on when my daughter bought a 1930s house that was last "updated" in the 1970s. Hers still had a pink bathtub that had been updated with 70s avocado green tile.

Skaill House pink bathroom in 2018

 

You could show her that even monumental historic houses had bathrooms like hers.

 

I did! While she loved the photo, it didn't help her green tile situation!!! Actually her bathroom also had a vanity with harvest gold so yuck and yuck! Since then she's sold the house so hopefully the new owner will like green, gold and pink!