As predicted, posting about my egg cup collection inspired me to search eBay and Etsy. It is true that the figural egg cup pickings are slimmer these days. I started collecting in 2002 and, thankfully, I seemed to have discovered egg cups at just the right time. I rarely see duplicates of many of my egg cups, though I do see one or two of them now and then.
Etsy seems to have a bit more in terms of figural options, but I found this one – one I’ve wanted for a while – on eBay.
My egg cup reference book says this is “Oriental boy with dog kissing his cheek.” It says it was made in Occupied Japan, but the stamp on the bottom of mine just says Japan. So this might be a later edition. Occupied Japan denotes that time period just after the war, from 1947-1952. If this was made after that, it’s still a good 60 years old – almost as old as me!
I love these little Japanese designed figures, often little boys, who either sit or stand and are adorable.
This guy belongs with two other egg cups in my collection:
You can see the similarity – both boys on the left are sitting, the new guy is standing, albeit with short little legs. I love the rosy cheeks on all three of them and the addition of the dog on this newest treasure. Do we think that’s a clown suit on this little one? Or is he a mini Pierrot?
Aren’t these guys the cutest?
I have my eye on two other egg cups – a pair, but they’re rare (not figural) and I don’t know whether I’ll snag them. I’m trying to hold off bidding any more until the last minute. We’ll see how that goes.
Today looks rather gloomy, though we may see some sun. My back is much better, so I might try to do a small amount of clean-up outside, mostly debris from falling branches. But I’ll take it slow.
Happy Saturday.
