SUFFRAGETTE TEA CUP, SAUCER AND PLATEA tea cup and saucer, and small cake plate after a design by Sylvia Pankhurst, decorated with the badge of the Women's Social and Political Union printed in green and washed in purple, a trumpeting angel under the banner 'FREEDOM' and the initials 'WSPU', the rims and angular handle also picked out in green enamel, saucer and plate each 125mm. diameter, c.1909 (3)Footnotes:Early in 1909, the Women's Social and Political Union commissioned the production of this service for use in the refreshment room at the Princes's Skating Rink Exhibition held in Knightsbridge for two weeks in May that year. Each piece bears Sylvia Pankhurst's 'Angel of Freedom' in the WSPU colours, a motif designed especially for the exhibition. After the exhibition, the china was sold off in sets of 22 pieces to raise funds for the cause. Votes for Women of 13 May 1910 noted that some was still available to purchase: 'a breakfast set for two, 11s; small tea set, 15s; whole tea set £1; or pieces may be had singly' (Elizabeth Crawford, The Women's Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide 1866-1928, 1999, p.108). The use of the green, white and purple colours and easily recognisable motifs were crucial to spreading the message of the WSPU through clever merchandising by which, as Christabel Pankhurst wrote, 'every member of the Union will become an advertiser for the movement' (Crawford, p.137).