This brown mug was manufactured by OMC for The Mandarin in Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco, CA. It features a seated, Chinese woman wearing a headdress on the front and three Chinese symbols down the back.

The Mandarin Restaurant was founded in 1968 by Chinese food doyenne Cecelia Sun Yun Chiang. What Julia Child did for French cooking in the United States, Cecilia Chiang did for Chinese cuisine in America. Trader Vic (Bergeron) became a sort of mentor to Cecilia Chiang, especially when she moved to Ghirardelli Square where he had Senor Pico. Trader Vic brought columnist Herb Caen to The Mandarin, Caen wrote about it, and off it went. (Note: This writer was handling public relations for Trader Vic’s at that time.)

In the heyday of the Mandarin’s success, Cecilia presided over an elegant restaurant that achieved a national reputation. Visitors from all over the country came to seek authentic and fine Chinese dining. She held cooking classes that saw students the likes of Julia Child, James Beard, Alice Waters, Marion Cunningham, Jeremiah Tower and Danny Kaye come through. This Ghirardelli Square stalwart closed its doors in 2006. However, the family legacy lives on...Chiang's son, Philip, is a co-founder of the restaurant chain P.F. Chang's. He also ran a sister version of the Mandarin in Beverly Hills (1975-2001) that used this Empress Mug, but was marked both "San Francisco and Beverly Hills" on bottom.