Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tea Cup Tuesday!




This is the very first teacup I ever owned~I received it as a gift in 1971, and am quite fond of it~it's very small and delicate, and I love that it's hand painted. My first paying job was working in the snack bar of a Ralph's grocery store; my boss was this no-nonsense Irish lady with a thick accent and a stern demeanor, and I was rather afraid of her at first. Three years later, when the snack bar had been remodeled into a deli, and I had moved on to become a checker at the market, Lena, my old boss, was leaving for another store, and she surprised me by giving me this gift. I don't remember the backstory of this cup; I thought she said it was one of hers in a collection she had and that she'd brought it from Ireland. I truly can't remember now. I do remember that my mother had her over to dinner one time at our house. As you can see, the bottoms of the cup and saucer are stamped with "Ucagco China-Made in Occupied Japan." Interesting to see the words, "China, Made in Japan," isn't it?

8 comments:

Faith Hope and Cherrytea said...

delightful blog & gorgeous teacup! thx for sharing!
tea is on at FHC ~ WELCOME!

Dazie said...

This tea cup is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen, I adore the shape its gorgeous!
Thanks for sharing
Dazie
x

Patti said...

That is a very beautiful and unusual teacup. And how lovely that you ended up capturing the heart of a woman you were once afraid of.

Blessings,
Patti (Fill My Cup with Beauty)

Terri said...

I had to click on the photo so I could see every bit of it, it is so gorgeous! So unusual as well. How nice that it is a gift from someone in your life.
Thank you so much for showing it to us today. I am sure I have never seen one like it before.
Hugs,
Terri

Unknown said...

Such a beautiful cup full of style, i love storys attached on how people came to be the owners, history gets to me every time. I have never seen a stamp mark like that, the words made in china yes but never with the Japan mark also, even more history attached ;-) Lovely. Dee

The French Bear said...

It's lovely, what a beautiful gift!!! The words alone make it special.......and the occupied Japan stamp. Gorgeous!
Hugs,
Margaret B

Martha's Favorites said...

Hi Jann: The cup is stunning. I have never seen one like this before. I just love it. I can explain the signature. The China is part of the company name, Japan was were it was made. Have a wonderful week. So glad you could join us. I hope you will share again. Blessings, Martha

Lydia said...

What a wonderful tea cup! You must have such an unusual collection.