Day four. The finale. For today’s post, I’ve gathered up the rest of my egg cups, those cups that are on display hither and yon in the cottage. All this posting about egg cups has me sort of obsessed by them again. Isn’t that the way it often happens? You get used to seeing something in your home, walk right by it (or them,) don’t even register that it’s there and then suddenly, you see it with fresh eyes and kaboom! It’s all you think of.

Okay, here we go: the finale!

Starting from the left:

1. A beautiful egg cup in my favorite colors. It has no mark so I’m not sure who made it. It’s vintage, though. I got it a few years ago at my favorite shop in San Diego, Vignettes. It usually is on display in the china cabinet in the den, with a found bird nest sitting on top of it.

2. A chick coming out of an egg, with some pretty flowers painted on the base. Marked Japan. Another gift from my Mom. On display in the kitchen china cabinet.

3. This is an egg coddler, not an egg cup. This particular one, given to me by my mom, has a bird on one side and two birds on the other. Marked Royal Worcester Porcelain, England. On display in the kitchen china cabinet.

4. A sweet chick. I believe this one is newer and not vintage. Unmarked. Given to my by my mom. On display on top of my bookshelves in the bedroom.

5. Love, love this goose egg cup. I found it in a local shop. Marked ‘France.’ Also on display in the den china cabinet.

These adorable egg cups (in what is called the ‘bucket’ style) were a gift to me last year from dear Judy. I love them. They are on display in the kitchen. And, by the way, what is the answer to that question? I’ll leave you to ponder it.

And finally, my two newest acquisitions. I bought them just the other day.

1. A Delft egg cup in the shape of a chicken. (I’m not particularly crazy about Delft, but I’m trying to add different shapes to my collection and this one is charming. Signed ‘1332 Kenith (or Renith) R.’ Probably newish.

2. A Flow Blue double egg cup. Vintage and unmarked.

Well, my friends, I hope you have enjoyed my annual tour of the egg cup collection. I try to do it a wee bit differently every year. I’m sure I’ll have even more to show you by this time next year.

By the way, most egg cups are very affordable and you can find many of them for a few dollars in antique shops and flea markets. I think the Flow Blue cup, for example, was about $4.00 and the Delft chicken was $5.00. Figural egg cups, especially the rarer ones, are pricier. Very, very old egg cups in ironstone or rare patterns command a higher price. But I often find that dealers are not very up on egg cups and the prices they might command, so you can usually get a great deal. In the beginning days of my obsession, which would have been around 2002, I haunted eBay and that is where I found many of my figurals. Etsy wasn’t in existence then, but now it is and you’ll find some wonderful examples there, as well. Of course, the best part of the hunt is discovering a gem tucked away on the shelves of a shop. I keep hoping to expand the figural part of my collection, but they are getting harder and harder to find. Certainly, the rarer ones – like the bunny painting the egg – are increasingly scarce. I don’t check eBay all that often, but I haven’t seen that particular egg cup in a long, long time. I’m so happy I started when I did because the figurals (my first egg cup love) were the ones that I found enchanting and whimsical and in 2002, there were still a lot to be found.

I’m fairly picky about what I collect, but I’m going to expand the collection into souvenir egg cups and double egg cups in various china patterns. I cannot pass up a pretty china pattern, as you know.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.

A note to Debby Messner: I got your email yesterday but whenever I respond to that address it bounces back to me, so I wanted to let you know that I signed up for Club Little House swap. Thanks for telling me about it, my friend!

The winner of a copy of Casebook is SueZK! I’ve just sent you an email, Sue. Congratulations! (Winners are always chosen by the Random Number Generator.)

Happy Friday.

Today, we’re traveling downstairs to the den where we’ll find some more egg cups. They are very special and just might be my favorites. They are displayed on a charming shelf/whatnot that I found in a little antique store many years ago.

Top Shelf:

1. This Humpty Dumpty is made by Mansell in Great Britain. I had my eye on this little fella for a while and managed to snag it on eBay. The hand-painted egg is from Prague.

2. Oh, be still my heart. I rarely, if ever, see this one nowadays and, let me tell you, the minute I saw it, I had to have it. Another crazy middle-of-the-night bidding war on eBay many years ago resulted in it coming home to Mockingbird Hill Cottage. The Bunny as Painter, painting a face on an egg. Marked Japan.

Middle shelf:

1. Another gem. The head comes off and is a salt shaker or salter. The bottom half, from the neck down, is the egg cup. This one is rather large and a couple of years ago, I saw a pair of them for sale. That’s when I realized that they were originally sold as salt and pepper shakers. The details, the sweet face with the smile and the rosy cheeks – sigh. Love it. Marked Ardalt 6343/Occupied Japan.

2.  Oh my goodness. Another one that stole my heart. A pig getting ready to dine on an egg. Same story. Had to have it. This was made for Tiffany by Elizabethan Staffordshire in England.

Bottom Shelf:

1. Definitely worth the most of any of my egg cups, this Doc egg cup is part of a set of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs egg cups that were made for Walt Disney Enterprises in the late thirties. They are not easy to find (Snow White herself is almost impossible to find and when she  shows up somewhere she goes for a lot of money.) Obviously, I’d love to have them all but for now, little Doc lives here at the Cottage. Marked ©1937, W. D. Ent. Made in Japan.

2. A little boy/cowboy. I lost track of him recently and then discovered him under the bed (our old bed) upstairs, where he had rolled after falling to the floor as a result of an unfortunate incident involving the collision of my head with the egg cup shelves. See Tuesday’s post for that story. He’s back and I love him. A reader mentioned that she thought he wasn’t a cowboy but an English character. Nope. He’s a cowboy. I have a reference/pricing book that I use and he’s definitely a little boy/cowboy. I’ve also seen the same description on several other reference sites. Love the legs sticking out. Marked Japan.

3. Though this little cherub-like clown is holding an egg, this is actually a toothpick holder. But I love it so much that I include it with my egg cups. Wouldn’t you? Marked Japan.

Tomorrow I’ll share egg cups that aren’t found on a official ‘eggcup shelf’ but are on display in various parts of the house.

By the way, I use this book, which is a treasure trove of information. It’s out of print but I regularly see it listed on eBay. If you’re at all interested in this genre of collecting, this book is a must have. There’s Snow White on the cover. I want her. Sigh.

It’s cold here in the Northeast, but it’s sunny, thank goodness. More work outside today. Don, who usually isn’t at all into that sort of thing, is on a roll. He likes being busy outside and I’m going to take advantage of it while I can.

Happy Thursday.