Mockingbird Hill Cottage

Life in our little cottage in the country

You are here: Home / Archives for egg cups

More Cups and A Couple of Cozies

at by

We continue our little tour. There is no rhyme or reason on what I choose to post. Rather, I open the doors to the egg cup cubby and pull out whatever calls to me.

It’s a gray day today, so this is the best I can do.

On the left, a bunny holding up an egg cup. Orange cup, bright-eyed bunny rabbit.

Next, a Scottie holding up a cup. This is one of my favorites, I’ve not seen it available in a long, long time. In fact, other than the time I found this one, I’m not sure I’ve seen it on sale at all. Maybe once? I love the yellow color, the markings on the Scottie, and the blue collar.

Next, two rabbits holding up an egg cup, one facing left, one facing right. It looks to be a rather heavy and cumbersome job for the rabbits. I hope they don’t have to hold that pose too long! This was one of my earliest discoveries – I’m always attracted to the sight of rabbits dressed in clothing, in this case, pants and a jacket.

Which brings me to the cup on the right. Another rabbit dressed in shorts with suspenders and a blue shirt. He’s standing next to his little egg cup cottage with a window and a tiny little door. This one has a lustre glaze and it’s awfully pretty. I saw another one of these cups on eBay the other day.

I took a look at the offerings on eBay recently – I do this every year at this time – and I’m once again reminded of how fortunate I was to start collecting back in early 2002. There were all sorts of figural egg cups available. Now? Some, but not many. There are a lot of modern egg cups trying to look cute, but very little with the charm of these vintage cups. Every once in a while, one pops up, like the egg up above on the right. But, it’s rare. Newer cups are not as detailed and not nearly as charming.

Then there are these two. Several years ago, when Don was away on some acting job, I bought a pattern for these egg cup cozies on Etsy and proceeded to reacquaint myself with my very basic knitting skills. I decided that the bunny on the right was the mom and the one on the left was her son. They are perched on two single egg cups. The gold cup is lustreware. The one on the right is from Prague, but the bunny is hiding the design.

It’s tempting to knit some more, but heavens, I’m already trying to declutter! They stay on the bookshelf year round because they make me smile.

Time to get out the fabric eggs, I believe!

Stay safe.

Happy Saturday.

 

 

Puzzle, Egg Cups, and Rain

at by

The finished puzzle. I particularly loved this one. And so did Don as he has always loved this form of artistry. He purchased a couple of framed woodblock prints not long after we met. We still have them. This was a Cavallini puzzle. They are always quite beautiful and come in a cylinder, rather than a box. All of the pieces are contained in a cloth bag. I’ve done a few in the past. I just glanced at the other Cavallini puzzles available on Amazon and I think I’m going to have to do another one. By the way, these woodblocks are the artistry of Kawase Hasui.

Sunny today – rare, lately! We’ve had – what else is new? – a LOT of rain. And we’re due for more Saturday and Sunday. It did turn sunny in the afternoon yesterday and it’s lovely right now. But it’s hard for me to imagine the ground drying out. Ever.

More egg cups:

A series of Japanese egg cups: on the left, a dog, then a little boy dressed as a cowboy, another little boy with a scarf around his neck and a blue cap, and on the right, a little boy and his dog. I have them displayed in adjoining cubbies. They should be able to chat with each other, don’t you think? All of them are vintage.

I realize that when I say vintage I am often using 2000 as my guide to count backwards. Isn’t that strange? We’re more than twenty years beyond  2000! Just like I think the nineties were about 15 years ago. Ummm….no.

Wooden people egg cups in this photo.

On the left, an egg cup from Italy, made by Sevi. They made a series of these egg cups and they all came with a knit cap to keep the egg warm. They’re still accessible on eBay, but sometimes the knit cap is missing. I believe this one was a gift from a reader, but darned if I can remember who. (Too many names of students, actors, directors, childhood friends, fellow grad school students and readers to remember!) I love this little girl.

On the right, another wooden egg cup made in Japan. A sailor. I have a feeling he had some sort of hat, as well, but it was long gone when Don came upon it in a local antique shop. Ahem… Scout  came upon it, because it was a gift from her.

Remember our talk about visits from beyond? Last Friday, I had two from my mom: one while I was sitting in my chair – the distinct smell of Oil of Olay, and another later in the day when I was driving home from my errands.

Stay safe.

Happy Friday.

 

 

Egg Cups, the Beginning

at by

Another rainy day. That’s all I’ll say about that.

I saw one of the Carolina wrens this morning. Or rather, I heard him first and turned to look out the den window. There he was, perched on the top branches of the hydrangea, singing away. I haven’t seen any robins yet. When they first appear, they’re usually in a group. Maybe traveling north? We seem to be a favorite stop on the way, Anyway, I’ll alert you when they make their presence known.

I probably should have taken more than one photo for the beginning of the egg cup tour, but my plans to take them yesterday were scuttled as I was deep into solving a jigsaw puzzle. I haven’t done one in a long time. This one’s theme is Japanese wood blocks. It’s beautiful.

You’ll see it soon. I hope to finish it today.

The first group of egg cups, chosen randomly.

On the left, one of my favorites. I found it on eBay when I first started collecting. I love the designs where a chick or a duck is either holding up the egg cup or, as in this case, hiding on the other side of the cup. They’re so playful and charming. There’s a pale pink marking around the top of the egg cup. A chicken/rooster is pecking at food and a chick is on the other side of the cup.

Center: I’d say this one is in my top five (I’m not counting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. They’re in their own category.)

Again, found early in my collecting journey when beautiful cups like these were easier to find. It’s very difficult to find them these days. The bunny as artist. He’s wearing an artist’s smock with a bow, a pair of pants, and is holding a palette. He subject is the egg itself; he’s transforming it into a smiling face.

Right: A darling egg cup that was a gift from my friend, Linda (who you know from this blog.) The sticker says “Our Own Import.” You can’t see the tail, but it’s a salter. There are holes in the tail and you pull it out to salt your egg. Ingenious!

Oh, there are a lot more to go! I suppose it’s time to pull out the fabric eggs, as well.

In other news, I’m plunging ahead with Wolf Hall  (only about 150 pages to go) and have already ordered Bring Up the Bodies  (the next book in the trilogy) from the library. In a rare instance, it’s actually on the shelves at my local library branch. Two of my favorite authors, John Connolly and James Lee Burke, have new books coming out in May and June and I’m on the hold list for those as well.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

 

 

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

Thanks for visiting! Feel free to browse, read and enjoy. All content is my own; including photos and text. Please do not use anything on this site without permission.

Disclosure/Privacy Policy can be found in the Navigation Bar under ‘About MHC.’

Also, I love receiving comments! I do, however, reserve the right to delete any comment that is in poor taste, offensive or is verging on spam. It’s my blog. If you’re a bot or a troll you’ll be blocked. Thanks!

Archives