How many cups make a full service?

The number varies by the period and the maker. Standard Victorian services often came with twelve cups, twelve saucers, and twelve side plates. Earlier Georgian sets might only feature six cups. It is quite rare to find a large early service still complete today.

I have inherited a silver teapot and sugar bowl from my grandmother, but we seem to have lost the cream jug along the way. Can I just buy any silver jug to match them up?

You can certainly add a near-match from the same era. Many dealers refer to these as harlequin services. Look for a jug with a similar handle shape and body profile. If your main pieces have paw feet, try to find a cream jug that shares that specific casting detail. Finding the exact replacement by the identical maker takes patience. It isn't impossible if they were a prolific manufacturer.

Can you wash old china in a dishwasher?

Modern dishwasher detergents are highly abrasive. They will strip the gilding and surface enamel right off an older ceramic body. The intense heat also expands any existing hairline cracks and causes vessels to shatter.

My ceramic teapot has these tiny brown lines running all over the surface glaze inside and out. Does this mean it is broken or is it just something that happens as the piece gets older?

That network of lines is called crazing. It happens when the glaze cools and shrinks at a different rate to the clay body beneath it. Over time, tea stains seep into these microscopic cracks and turn them brown. It doesn't mean the pot is structurally broken.

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Antique Tea Sets from the 19th Century

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An antique tea set is a matched group of vessels, typically comprising a teapot, sugar bowl, and milk jug, originally designed to brew and serve hot infusions in domestic settings.