Christmas egg cups

Merry Christmas to all egg cup collectors and egg cup lovers!

Details concerning the featured pieces: 1) designed by Eddie Walker for Seasons of Cannon Falls (United States), made in China, sold for the Christmas of 2003 [eggcup3468]; 2) produced by Maebata (Japan), from the "Merry Christmas" collection [eggcup3192]; 3) made in Japan [eggcup4091]; 4) made in Japan, sold with the previous one [huevdesp14]; 5) wooden egg cup [eggcup1206]; 6) marked "Fine China" and "Made in England" [eggcup1941] 7) wooden egg cup [eggcup1205]; 8) china [eggcup0111]; 9) has a "Japan" sticker [eggcup1929].

Very similar egg cups 2

Welcome to the second post of our series exploring the notion of 'originality' in the world of egg cups! Today we examine four pieces that seem to be part of the same family of reading eggs, but were actually aren't. Read carefully.

Amazing details: 1) this egg cup, where the soft-boiled egg is supposed to read an imaginary version of German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine, was produced by the German company Harlekin, it has a sticker marked ""Original Handarbeit, Made in Germany, Harlekin" and was bought in Germany in 1988 [eggcup0709]; 2) here the soft-boiled egg reads Le Figaro, the egg cup has a sticker marked "Harlekin Geschenke-Wiesbaden" and ""Vergiss nicht die schönen Dinge des Lebens", and it was bought in France in 1986 [eggcup0490]; 3) in this case the soft-boiled egg reads a realistic Financial Times dated from March 1988, and there is no mark, and no sticker [eggcup4223]; 4) here the soft-boiled egg reads a Women magazine, the egg cup was bought in London in 1982 and seems to be, therefore, the oldest of the four. Is it the 'original' one, or was its design inspired from another model? The question remains open!

To see our first post on egg cups that remind us of other egg cups, please check the Very similar egg cups post.

Goebel egg cups

Are Goebel egg cups more popular than Carlton Ware ones, or the other way around? I don't know, but I know that some of the Goebel models are absolute classics and must-haves in the world of egg cup collecting. The company, born in Türingen in 1871, is actually a reference name for collecting in general. Unlike Carlton, Goebel is still active, and it is still regularly bringing new models to the market - particularly with rabbits.

Details that collectors might find valuable: 1) this piece was produced between 1979 and 1986; catalog number is 81-120; marked "Goebel, W. Germany"; 2) Friar Tuck, registered as "E 95A", marked"Western Germany", this model, created by Wolf, was produced between 1965 and 1990 [eggcup1763]; 3) marked "Copyright by W. Goebel W. Germany, 1966, E128", this model was designed by Ebert [eggcup0769]; 4) bouhgt in 2000 [eggcup1726]; 5) model produced between 1964 and 1971, it exists also with other colours [eggcup2273]; 6) marked "Goebel, W. Germany, E121".

To check Carlton Ware's egg cups, please go to the Carlton Ware egg cups post.

Traditional Spanish pottery egg cups

Spanish traditional pottery might not be as internationally well known as the pottery from some neighboring countries, but it is nevertheless a very interesting field that should be explored by any egg cup lover: even if Spain does not have a very strong reputation for egg cups, collectors could be surprised to see how many of them exist, and how nice they can be. This selection brings together some pieces illustrative of different traditions present in the territory, for your personal pleasure. All pieces are, of course, hand-made.

Interesting details: 1) made in Castellón, sold in Peñíscola [eggcup1024]; 2) made in Naval (Huesca) [eggcup2651]; 3) bought in Sigüenza [eggcup1085]; 4) made in Muel (Zaragoza); 5) unglazed, sold in Montserrat [eggcup0002]; 6) made in Besalú [eggcup2824]; 7) Belmonte de San José (Teruel) [eggcup3352].

Ah, you probably remember that another beautiful Spanish egg cup can be seen at the Rare artistic egg cups post.

Spiral egg cups

One of the most revolutionary days in the history of egg cups was probably the day when somebody realized that there's no reason why egg cups should be solid. Eggs already have their own shell, so, unlike other cups, egg cups can have as many holes as they like! And they can even be made of a simple spiral. Yes, one of the most revolutionary things to have happened in the history of egg cups could be the invention of spiral egg cups. Who thought of them for the first time? When was it? It's a mystery. Spiral egg cups started to be very popular in the 1980's and actually they never really went away. They are cheap and they are fun, and moreover they can also be decorated with uncountable gadgets, either at the beginning or at the end of the spiral.

Details concerning the featured pieces: 1) Belgium, 2003 [eggcup3086]; 2) origin unknown [eggcup1538]; 3) Ireland, 1997; has an "Electra" label [eggcup1291]; 4) made in Amsterdam, "Filo di ferro" collection [eggcup4590]; 5) France, 2003 [eggcup3053]; 6) Barcelona, 2005, marked "Soft boiled egg and soldiers" [eggcup3906] 7) very similar to a model registered by Jost Hurzeler in Australia [eggcup4099]; 8) Germany, 2001 [eggcup2145]; 9) from a series of six inspired by "Party animals" by Bang Of The Door, used by Kinnerton in 2002 to sell chocolate egg cups [eggcup2289]; 10) Germany, 2005 [eggcup3864].

Wing series egg cups

Plastic egg cups created and sold by the Wing company can be seen as one of the first attempts to increase the value of plastic pieces in general. Originally marketed to children and featuring sometimes very famous characters, they always had exclusive "registered designs" and are nowadays very popular with collectors, who give special attention to their condition. As it can be seen in the present collection, Wing concentrated mainly on two types of models: the cylindrical and the anthropomorphic ones.

Details concerning this pieces: 1) made in Hong Kong, reg. number 1.040 [eggcup1708]; 2) Pink Panther egg cup, made in Hong Kong, marked "Mirisch-Geoffrey" [eggcup1650]; 3) made in Hong Kong, reg. number 1.041 [eggcup2403]:; 4) Tom & Jerry egg cup, made in Honk Kong 1970, marked "M.G.M. Inc." [eggcup1569]; 5) made in Honk Kong, reg. number 1.043 [eggcup0507]; 6) made in Honk Kong, reg. number 1.046 [eggcup1841]; 7) no mark; this egg cup could be considered a fake Wing's piece [eggcup1920].

Aardman Animations egg cups

Wallace loves cheese and (apparently) the studio Aardman Animations loves not only chickens, but also soft-boiled eggs. Free-range or not, eggs are more than welcome in the generous selection of cups inspired in their characters that are available on the market. Nick Park fans are happy and so should be egg cup collectors.

Known details: 1) Wallace head with movable blue cap, made in China for Enesco's Border Fine Arts, designed by Paul Cardew, "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" model [eggcup4879]; 2) Gromit head with movable blue cap, made in China for Enesco's Border Fine Arts, designed by Paul Cardew, "The Curse of the Were-Rabbit" model [eggcup4880]; 3) Rocky Rhodes bucket, produced in 2000, from a series of eight egg cups with "Chicken run" characters offered by a British eggs producer [eggcup1838]; 4) Wendolene head, offered by Ty-phoo tea [eggcup1689]; 5) plastic, Shaun head, made in China for The Boots Company PLC, first sold in 1989 [eggcup1836].

Buckets

What happens to a common shaped egg cups when it loses its foot? It becomes a bucket! Of course, this is not exactly true, but what collectors and specialists call "buckets" are indeed egg cups without feet. It is generally considered that they are specially popular in Great Britain, but that does not mean that you won't find them almost everywhere. This selection presents some examples of simple buckets - some other day we'll have a look at buckets with funny and children pictures.

Exact and true details: 1) produced by Upsala Ekeby, probably during the 1970s (Sweden) [eggcup2735]; 2) Duraline egg cups, produced by Dudson (United Kingdom) [eggcup2779]; 3) hand-painted by Ester Östman in 1977 (Sweden) [eggcup1608]; 4) marked "Satsuma, Japan" [eggcup0254]; 5) produced by Royal Doulton for British Airways, used by the company until 1996 [eggcup2284]; 6) stoneware [eggcup0044]; 7) marked "Taunton Vale, Made In England", produced probably during the 1970s [eggcup2735]; 8) copper, made by Linton (United Kingdom) [eggcup2207].

You might recall some buckets already appeared here in this blog, like this little chicken Ikea egg cup from the Ikea egg cups post, the Cadbury's caramel egg cup from the Advertising and merchandising egg cups selection, or the Jane Brookshaw egg cup from the Little chicken egg cups family.

If you want to see other types of egg cup shapes, you could go directly to the Common shaped egg cups message or to the Integral saucer egg cups category.