It depends on the brand of your pattern. Ebay or even Amazon may have it. If your brand or style isn't on there, there are some websites dedicated to finding pieces for china, like http://chinareplacements.com/.
It's for stability. The groove usually matches exactly with a cup from the same tea set. it's designed to keep the cup on the saucer.
In India people pour tea out of their tea cup into the saucer as a way to cool down the tea and also as a way to split a cup between two people . The design of a cup and saucer is derived from a Chinese brewing cup that featured a bottom plate.
The standard size of a tea saucer is about four and a half inches for an adult size saucer. The teacup is about two and a half inches tall. The saucers have been increased overtime.
There is a possibility your tea set could be worth money. The only way to know for sure is to take it to a collector or antique shop.
Made in Occupied Japan Wako teacup and saucer
Saucer.
when you put tea in the cup, you then put the cup on the saucer to prevent tea from spilling onto the table or to protect the table from the cup. And it makes carrying the cup a lot easier. try tea with biscuits for an english touch :)
I used a saucer under my tea cup so it wouldn't spill onto the table. Or Someone claimed there was a UFO saucer in the sky with flashing lights and a laser beam. Or better yet I smashed my saucer over the zombies head, while grandmother dearest, armed herself with a minigun and shredded the poor undead.
A lidded cup and saucer used in China and Taiwan in the preparation of tea
One can start a tea cup and saucer collection by searching antique stores and thrift shops. Other online sites available for such a collection would be eBay and Craigslist.
Victoria tea cup and saucer sets can be purchased at a variety of places. Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and eBay are just a handful of names of companies that sell these items.
Yes,a larger exposed surface area makes evaporation faster,for eg-: tea kept in a cup cools slowly than tea kept in the saucer because evaporation takes place quicker at the saucer because the saucer has a wider surface area than the cup.So the particles of tea evaporate fast hence cooling down.