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Dust Cups, as Opposed to Tea Cups

We're doing some work in our family room—painting, replacing floors, sprucing up the fireplace... I should say we're having the work done and not doing it ourselves, but I do have to pack up the little things that will get in the way of all of this work. Yesterday, I removed a ton of books, boxed up some framed pictures and relocated things like vases and whatnot. And last night, I packed up my china teacup collection that has graced the upper ledge for ten years. They live on a high ledge I can't reach without a very tall ladder, so you can imagine the dust that has accumulated in those cups and on those saucers over a decade. Oh, the dust and the lady bug carcasses.

Before I boxed them all up, I set them out and had a good look at them to remind myself why I like these things so much. I've been collecting them since I was 12 years old, and I have them from around the world—China, Japan, Occupied Japan, Hong Kong, France, Bavaria, England, Italy, Denmark, Czecho-Slovakia, Sweden. I've got a mustache cup, some with legs, some with handles, some hand-painted and one made of sterling silver. I have actually stopped buying teacups because I'm at the stage where I only want a new one if it's unusual or from a country I don't already have on the shelf.

Here are my three favorites. The small dragon cup is from Occupied Japan and was given to me by my grandmother. The faded white delicate one I bought outside of Thomas Jefferon's home and the silver one has a removable cup.

This adorable duck is from Czecho-slovakia. Yes, with the hyphen.

This is a fun cup depicting a Danish village.

And this pearlescent cup comes with it's own dessert tray (Czech).

I suppose I'll have to wash all of these before I put them back up, but they're do for a good cleaning, don't you think? Ten years is a long time to sit on a shelf.

Comments

dive said…
That's a beautiful collection, Robyn. Fun, too! Yes, ten years is a long time to leave them gathering dust - they must have looked like the statuary in Westminster Abbey when we visited. It will be nice to clean each one and think of the memories associated with it.
11:53 AM
Madame DeFarge said…
They do look lovely. Aren't you tempted to start using them though?
3:23 PM
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