Vintage Nescafé Advertising Coffee Cups & Saucers, UK, c. 1988–1992

This vintage Nescafé promotional coffee set, dating to the late 1980s or early 1990s, comprises two cups and matching saucers made exclusively for Nescafé for the UK market by Hornsea Pottery.. The white ceramic is decorated with a loose, brightly coloured café scene in yellow, red, blue and brown, very much of its period. These were not shop-bought tablewares. They belonged to the era of customer loyalty promotional gifts, when brands encouraged customers to save labels, tokens or proofs of purchase and send away for specially produced merchandise. Nescafé was particularly good at this kind of promotion, turning an everyday jar of instant coffee into a route to branded mugs, cups and other household pieces. What I like here is that the branding is surprisingly restrained. Rather than covering the cups with a large Nescafé logo, the decoration plays on the idea of European café culture, with loosely painted figures, tables and flashes of colour wrapping around the cups. It feels much more like late-1980s graphic design than conventional advertising. Only the bases are marked “Made Exclusively for Nescafé” Condition: Excellent vintage condition and probably never used. The cups and saucers remain very clean with no obvious signs of wear from regular use. Collector’s note: Promotional ceramics are easy to overlook, but they record a very particular kind of consumer history. Before loyalty apps and online reward schemes, people really did cut tokens from packaging, fill in forms and wait for something like this to arrive through the post. The result is a small but rather cheerful piece of British advertising history, and the café-style decoration has aged surprisingly well. Worldwide Shipping: We are always happy to ship worldwide. Your piece will be packed with great care and sent tracked.