The Mighty Åggkopp or as we say Egg Cup

I have been a collector of things all my life, but when we decided to downsize our home, in my naivety thought that something small to continue collecting would be a perfect solution for a smaller home. How wrong could I have been?  The joke was on me. Now, many hundreds later I can honestly say I am a Pocillovist, an egg cup collector!

Many years ago now, I walked into an antique mall and saw a single egg cup that was a souvenir cup of Jonkoping, Sweden. This was in the US, but I knew this city well and one of my Dear friends lived there. I had to have it and the 3.00 price tag, well that ended any questions of, "should I, do I need it, and where will I put it?"  Of course then you say to yourself, what will I do with one egg cup?  Those of you who have succumbed to this particular collecting are now laughing at me, because you know what happens next!
The green transfer double egg cup on the left is "Chinese Bird"

Made by Adams in England age is approx 1913-. Comes in several colors but I was lucky to find it in green.  Every collector has a favorite area of collecting, even though they may have thousands of cups, yes I did say thousands, there are always favorites. It might be certain Countries, Souvenir, Royalty, Figurals, Shapes, EAPG glass, restaurantware, and the list goes on.                             
                         

In this grouping you have, top left to right: Two walking cups, figurals made by Cartonware, England. The first one has a handle and looks like a small coffee cup. They are fun. The yellow double shape at the end of that row is French Quimper. The middle row has a small bucket shape from Cork Ireland, A single luster souvenir  and a waisted hoop shape from a steamship lines. The third row has a heavy industrial large custard shape for a hotel. Then a child's figural cup with a chick and a "Sooty" child's cup. We are not familiar with Sooty, but believe he is an English T.V. program for children.  Standing alone is a French Limoge cup and plate combination.  These are just to show different shapes.

In this entire process, we become immersed in the academic research of each item. Who made it, where was it made, when was it made, and in some cases why and how was it made. Some of my favorites are definitely souvenir,

 

These are Mauchline Ware, made in a town in Scotland of the same name. There were many trades associated with the town of Mauchline, but it is the "box work" that most of us are familiar with. Small souvenir pieces made of Sycamore and decorated with transfers of a view of the place they were purchased. Tartans were also used. They were produced from 1829 -1933.

I am motivated by quality, what pleases me, and how different it is. Since my interests are in vintage things, I rarely would buy anything newly made, with the exception of Royal
memorabilia.

I do have some rules I try to follow. I want a perfect example and will not purchase anything chipped or cracked, unless that piece is free or is so rare I think I will never find it again. That probably would not apply at my level of collecting.

Martha Stewart stimulated the egg cup collecting interest when she featured cups on the cover of her April 2002 Living Magazine. I still have that magazine,perhaps you will be able to find an issue.

Some have enlarged their collections to include accessories associated with eggs and cups. I do have some egg spoons, but have tried to stay focused, it is much too easy to stray off the beaten path, as fascinating as this would be I am already out of room. I can show you this, a very early English Egg Cozy.

In the first bloom of our collecting and our enthusiasm for "those Sweet little" goodies, we often do not discriminate, but as we learn more about the subject matter, we eventually weed out those that we no longer find interesting. It is not always about quantity, but as in most things, it is the quality!

For anyone beginning this journey, an investment in the book, "Egg Cups" by Brenda C. Blake, written in 1995 along with her 2000 supplement has a wealth of information.
I still consider my self a novice, after all these years because I still find things I haven't seen before, which sends me scurrying to find the answers to the
unknown.
The history of egg cups is much too long to recant, but they were found in the ruins of Pompeii and have been traced to the 1600s in France. I hope we meet each other some day, reaching for the same piece, in a shop, a show, a flea market or thrift shop. Wherever or what ever enjoy every minute of that "mighty Little
Åggkopp search!   

                                          

Danish Ship Lines        
                                     Happy Hunting!