Egg cups

Trendy egg cups

2008-04-01T12:00:00.001+02:00

These egg cups became such a hype when they first saw the light, that they were very, very soon copied and declined in almost infinite models. And they eventually got even more popular. And more models saw the light. Should we really care about which ones are "the originals"? Or can we just concentrate in deciding which one is our favourite? Note for the collectors: there are of course many more than the models shown here.

Info about this beautiful selection: 1) made in China for "The egg cup collection" of Salt & Pepper [eggcup5312]; 2) made in China for "The egg cup collection" of Salt & Pepper [eggcup5286]; 3) egg cup distributed in the Netherdlands with the name "eierdop inktivs" [eggcup4751]; 4) a friend of the previous one [eggcup4750]; 5) and their geisha friend, with a "made in China" sticker [eggcup4749]; 6) white koala [eggcup3915]; 7) squirrel model by Salt 1 Pepper, "The egg cup collection" [eggcup5521].

Broken egg cups

2008-03-31T12:00:00.000+02:00

So, yes, we love egg cups and we treat them the best way we can, but unfortunately most of them are not unbreakable and some of them do get in trouble, especially when travelling around the world. Today we pay tribute to some victims of egg cup trafficking and unlucky handling.

Info for the specialists, and the others too: 1) marked "F.U." or "F.O.", it is damaged in the upper border [eggcup4631]; 2) a fine egg cup, to be compared with the following [eggcup2606]; 3) Hooli Mooli egg cup; notice that an arm and part of the egg are gone [eggcup3832] 4) an old Palissy Pottery (Stoke-On-Trent) piece, marked "Thames River Scenes by Palissy Pottery, England" [eggcup2481]; 5) a piece with manufacturing problems [eggcup0917]; 6) OK, this is a joke: a French egg cup imitating a broken egg shell, named "Croqtou", produced by the Limoges company Jean Louis Coquet [eggcup1702].

Egg cups with a message

2008-03-30T00:00:00.001+01:00

We have a very important message for you, dear egg cup collectors, egg cup lovers and readers in general: this blog is still alive! We took a little break but here we are again, with plenty of egg cups to share with you. Today we take a look at some pieces communicating messages, in case another proof was need to demostrate that egg cups are much more than things to put your eggs on.

Interesting info: 1) for the delight of all Beatrix Potter fans, here is a Wedgwood Peter Rabbit fine china egg cup with the sentence "Peter sat down to rest: he was very damp with sitting in that can", marked "Wedgwood of Etruria & Barlaston, Made in England, Copyright Frederick Warne & Co" [eggcup0020]; 2) L-O-V-E Bridgewater egg cup [eggcup1136]; 3) a piece "for the best grandma in the world", marked "Made In England" [eggcup1845]; 4) "Good morning" egg cup, highly recommended for breakfasts [eggcup3186]; 5) old children egg cup with part of the lyrics of the song "Rub-a-dub, three men in a tub, and who do you think they be? The butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, they all jumped out of a rotten potato, turn 'em out, knaves all three" (which is really supposed to convey a message, yes) [eggcup3807]; 6) very rare 1917 egg cup paying tribute to David Lloyd George, with the inscription "Dedicated to the patriotic fowl", signed by the Staffordshire girls, which was produced in the context of the First World War [eggcup2243]; egg cup to wish good luck in German produced by Achermann, in Hinterhof (Germany) [eggcup2354].

Anthropomorphic wooden egg cups

2007-10-30T15:03:00.000+01:00

All men are equal, but this does not imply that all anthropomorphic wooden egg cups have to look the same. On the contrary, we have here a perfect example of how can a very, very simple idea be declined in a myriad of ways to render unique your little (or not so little) egg cup.

Details to be considered on the featured pieces: 1) representing Pinocchio and including a wooden hat, bought in France in 1993 [eggcup1075]; 2) hand-painted, with metal earrings [eggcup2490]; 3) hand-painted, with woolen cap, bought in Italy in the 1980s [eggcup0011].

Please remember that there is also a nice antropomorphic wooden egg cup signed by Cecilia Brugge in the Figural wooden egg cups post.

Koala egg cups

2007-10-08T17:17:00.000+02:00

Koala time! Well, some of these could be considered to be ALSO souvenir egg cups, but in any case they do fall in the category "egg cups featuring nice koalas", don't they?

Interesting data: 1) beautiful egg cup offered in 1987 to the collector by the Aikin family, from Australia [eggcup0676]; 2) resin egg cup produced by French company Silea [eggcup3915]; 3) fine china egg cup produced by British firm Wade [eggcup4170]; 4) hand-paited, signed "F.P." and "Aust." [eggcup2293]

Figural wooden egg cups

2007-09-08T19:28:00.000+02:00

Figural wooden egg cups were born quite a longtime before the now more popular figural plastic egg cups. Easy to manufacture — especially since machines can make them—, shock-resistant and light weighted, they are not only very common as children egg cups, but also as souvenir pieces.

Details on the selected figural wooden egg cups: 1) German egg cups, probably from the 1950s [eggcup3439]; 2) marked "Erzgebirgische Volkskunst: Expertic, Made in German Democratic Republic" [eggcup0879]; 3) signed by Cecilia Brugge [eggcup2378]; 4) bought in Belgium in 2000 [eggcup1153]; 5) 4 egg cups on guitar-shaped plate [eggcup0928].

If you like wooden egg cups, don't forget to check the Non-figural wooden egg cups post.

Funny figural egg cups

2007-09-02T23:43:00.000+02:00

Smile! Here comes your soft-boiled egg.

Details of featured egg cups: 1) alien egg cup, marked Silly [eggcup1452]; 2) no further info [eggcup0427]; 3) Smiley egg cup [eggcup3850]; 4) W.C. egg cup [eggcup1720].

Please note that you might also find quite funny some of the egg cups featured on the Carlton Ware egg cups post.

Figural souvenir egg cups

2007-08-12T10:11:00.000+02:00

A selection of elaborated souvenir egg cups... just to subtley remind you wherever you might chose to go on holiday, if you do have holidays, there's a chance they do sell egg cups! And they could even be nice, original ones.

Details from the egg cups featured: 1) Belgian souvenir ceramic egg cup [eggcup1130]; 2) marked "Paris Musées", designed by Paul Mathieu, produced by Arthus Bertrand, inspired in a piece from Paris' Musée Carnavalet [eggcup1310]; 3) marked "Antoni Gaudí, 1852-1926" [eggcup3445]; 4) Jersey souvenir [eggcup1049]; 5) Irisih leprechaun [eggcup1817].

Animal egg cups

2007-08-10T20:24:00.000+02:00

We have already seen some very well represented species in previous messages but here comes a selection with the rare animals from the egg cup world, in a variety of styles.

Zoological details: 1) hand-painted, made in China for US company Department 56, partly specialised in collectibles [eggcup2303]; 2) fine china, hand painted, designed by Loretta Jones for a series of egg cups issued monthly by The Franklin Mint company (United Kingdom) in 1988, currently sold out [eggcup4399]; 3) hand painted [eggcup2464]; 4) Greek souvenir egg cup [eggcup1360]; 5) originally sold by Marks & Spencer's stores [eggcup2275].

If you collect animal egg cups or simply enjoy their view, don't hesitate to go back to the Little chicken egg cups post, or the Poultry egg cups one.

Buying egg cups in Berlin (the pics)

2007-07-18T14:28:00.000+02:00

The already announced pictures!

Buying egg cups in Berlin

2007-07-17T21:46:00.000+02:00

Exceptionally here come just some pictures recently taken in Berlin, where vintage plastic egg cups seem to be getting more fashionable than ever. If you happen to go there, make sure you don't leave the city without some vintage DDR Eierbechern!

Souvenir egg cups

2007-03-14T18:53:00.000+01:00

Marketing egg cups as souvenir objects was a great contribution for the popularity of egg cups. Indeed, their small size and light weight makes them a very practical choice, and they have been used as 'souvenir' for decades and decades and in a wide variety of locations. Cautious travellers do prefer them in resistant materials such as metal and wood. Collectors have a preference for unique designs, as well as a particular sensibility for general accordance between the style of the egg cup and the place or monument to be remembered.

Tourist information: 1) Greece [eggcup1819]; 2) Postojna (Slovenia) [eggcup0576]; 3) Creete, with "hand made" mark, probably marketed by Neofitou [eggcup0513]; 4) piece illustrating the souvenir egg cups known as 'pinklustre', souvenir of the UK's Houses of Parliament [eggcup4598]; 5) Col d'Aubisque (France) [eggcup1458]; 6) Menin Gate (Belgium) [eggcup0898]; 7) Jerusalem [eggcup0640].

Figural ceramic egg cups

2007-03-07T17:48:00.000+01:00

If you can imagine something, we can imagine a ceramic egg cup with the shape of whatever you imagine. More astonishingly, we don't really need to imagine anything: hundreds of figural ceramic egg cups are already out there.

Fascinating details: 1) probably made in England, 1980s [eggcup0351]; 2) probably made in Japan, date unknown [eggcup2438]; 3) probably made in Italy, 1980s [eggcup0153].

Double egg cups: twins

2007-02-28T21:40:00.000+01:00

Are these for very hungry people? Or for very close relatives? The proved fact is that they are called 'twins'.

Unique details: 1) Aberdovey (Wales) souvenir egg cup, produced by Bukfast, a Devon company which made the same model also for other places [eggcup1823]; 2) Carlton Ware egg cup, marked "Carlton Ware, Gourmet, England", [eggcup1672]; 3) Irish egg cup [eggcup1591]; 4) bought in Brussels, 1988 [eggcup0821].

If you are looking for Carlton Ware pieces, remember to check our Carlton Ware egg cups post, where you can see for instance the Hovis Bakery egg cup or this Walking Ware egg cup.

Famous characters: plastic egg cups

2007-02-22T17:23:00.000+01:00

Be careful! They are not toys.

Not so famous details: 1) Victoria Plum egg cup, marketed in 1981 by H.C. Ford & Sons (London, UK) [eggcup2508]; 2) Basil Brush egg cup, produced by Wing's in Hong Kong [eggcup1706]; 3) Big Ears egg cup (from the Noddy family) [eggcup1678]; 4) Muttley's egg cup (Hanna-Barbera), originally offered with Quickbrew tea [eggcup2442].

Heart-shaped egg cups

2007-02-15T11:48:00.000+01:00

You don't need to have an egg cup shaped heart to love egg cups.

Lovely details: 1) made by Koziol (Germany), model created in 1985, exists in various colours [eggcup1440] ; 2) advertising egg cup for Belgian Passendale cheese [eggcup3006]; 3) sold in Italy at the beginning of the 1980s [eggcup0073].

Anthropomorphic ceramic egg cups

2007-02-07T11:43:00.000+01:00

Well, they all are egg heads, arguably.

Details for the people: 1) hand-made in Nuremberg (Germany), in 2002 [eggcup2345]; 2) sold by particular from the UK [eggcup2395]; 3) Erin egg cup, made in China for Ganz (USA), it's one of the 12 models designed by Susan Paley for the Bella Casa collection [eggcup4098]; 4) "I'm an egg head" egg cup, made by Kreiss (USA) [eggcup1721].

Egg cups with characters famous mainly in the UK

2007-02-01T09:48:00.000+01:00

Yes, they are really famous over there, and everybody knows their names! (at least that's what we have been told)

Truly interesting details, at a global level: 1) Sooty egg cup, made in the 1960s by Keele Street Pottery, from Stoke On Trent (UK), from a series of six Sooty egg cups [eggcup4159]; 2) Sydney egg cup, made in Stoke On Trent (UK) in 1999 by Wade company, Sidney is a character from the Tetley Tea Folk family [eggcup4888] 3) Gaffer (another Tetley Tea Folk family member) made in Stoke On Trent (UK), by Wade, 1999 [eggcup4887].

Egg in saucer

2007-01-27T22:24:00.000+01:00

Not all egg cups are footed. In some cases the egg has to be placed at "zero level", maybe as a strategy to avoid damages produced during an eventual fall. We have classified this type of pieces under the title "egg in saucer" because they lack any official denomination, at least as far as we know. Some egg cup experts (yes, egg cup experts exist!) call them "bavarian", particularly when they are rounded have have the hole for the egg right in the middle. It seems, indeed, that originally this rounded non-footed cups were specially popular in Germany, and less in other countries. Nowadays, nevertheless, they can be found anywhere, and they are not always rounded, and we won't complain.

Interesting details on the featured pieces: 1) bought in Belgium [eggcup1738]; 2) bought in Germany, 1983 [eggcup0173]; 3) no info ; 4) Cerámicas Arcola (Manises, Spain) [eggcup1422] 5) marked "Chodziez, Made in Poland", but probably not from the Chodziez company [eggcup1083]; 6) Gmunder Keramik (Austria); 7) made bu Guzzini (Italy) [eggcup0697]; 8) made in Deruta (Italy), 1980s [0337].

You can find more egg cups of this type in previous posts. Check, for instance: Egg cups in unusual materials, where you will find this Culto egg cup; Modern design ceramic egg cups, where you will see a Gargantua light green egg cup; or even the Famous characters transfers post, for a Barbie egg cup.

Speedy & Friends egg cups

2007-01-20T17:43:00.000+01:00

Is this post-modernism? Is this non-sense? Is this art? Speedy & Friends egg cups, produced by the German company Casablanca, seem to offer infinite declinations of the same essential subject: half an egg with feet. Classified in different families and sub-families, Speedy's Friends cover more or less all modern human activities and events: sports, hobbies, important moments in life, jobs, ... whatever you can think about, it has probably been represented in a Speedy & Friends Eierbecher. These egg cups are not only all designed with extravagant imagination; they are also hand-painted with precious care. Moreover, Casablanca sells also plenty of irrelevant accessories such as transparent plastic balls to have your Speedy & Friends egg cups floating around your home. We are fans.

Interesting details, especially dedicated to Speedy & Friends collectors: 1) model called "Runny, der Dauerläufer", bought in 2004 from the second limited edition [eggcup3532]; 2) "Klumpy, der Natursbuche", marketed in 2000 [eggcup2059]; 3) "Hotti: Freund der Pferde", bought in 2006 [eggcup4829]; 4) "Baby Rose, das Schnullegirl", marketed in 2000 [eggcup2148]; 5) "Nikolo, der gestiefelte Santa" [eggcup2150]; 6) "Plantschy, der Nichtschwimmer", from the Sommer family; 7) "Stürmi, der Volltreffer", marketed in 2000 [eggcup2149]; 8) "Torty" from the "Hochzeit", sold under the slogan "Ei love you!" [eggcup3393].

Most innovative and original egg cups

2007-01-12T19:36:00.000+01:00

The future of egg cups depends probably less on their capacity to hold eggs than in their ability to surprise the consumer. The more they look like gadgets or even works of art, the more complicated it will be for normal people (meaning "non egg cup collectors") to ignore them. The present selection shows some of our favourite pieces with astonishing designs.

Intersting details (well, at least we think they are): 1) "Wiesenglück" egg cup, designed in 1998 by Anne Hubinger and marketed in 2001 by No.Nonsens, sold at Das Möbel in Vienna (Austria) [eggcup3381]; 2) Prydlig egg cup, sold by Ikea, made in China in 1999 [eggcup1984]; 3) Olaf egg cup, designed by Meyer Design for Koziol, sold in 2001 [eggcup2357]; 4) Eggy egg cup, designed by Frits Vink, produced by Cleverline for ZHO Innovation [eggcup4557]; 5) Inflate egg cup, designed by Michael Sodeau [eggcup4171]; 6) "EinEiige Zwillinge" egg cup, designed by M. Roling and V. Zitzmann for Take 2 [eggcup2154].

If you like special egg cups, don't forget to check the Rare artistic egg cups post.

If you enjoy modern design, you might be interested in WMF egg cups, Leonardo egg cups, or our general selections on Modern design ceramic egg cups, Modern design metal egg cups or Modern design plastic egg cups.

Egg is the message

2007-01-05T21:12:00.000+01:00

In case you wondered what you should put in them... now you know!

1) marked "Boiled egg", made in Britain by Bridgewater, "Toast & Marmalade" series [eggcup1313] 2) "Huevo", made by Happy Decor (Spain) [eggcup0605]; 3) "huevo", "egg", "Ei", "uovo", "oeuf", made by Thomas (Rosenthal) (Germany) [eggcup0581]; 4) "An egg boiled very soft is not unwholesome, Jane Austen" (reference to "Emma"), Fine white stoneware egg cup made in Scotland for Dunoon [eggcup0902]; 5) marked "Oeuf" [eggcup0780]; 6) marked "ei" [eggcup0996]; 7) marked "chicken egg" [eggcup2042] 8) "uovo" [eggcup0556]; 9) "El otro huevo de Colón" [eggcup0116]; 10) marked "uovo" [0081]; 11) marked "Huevo", made by Happy Decor (Spain); 12) marked "ei" [eggcup1365]; 13) marked "ik love ei" [eggcup3825]

Christmas egg cups

2006-12-24T19:45:00.000+01:00

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

2006-12-05T22:43:00.000+01:00

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

2006-11-28T17:34:00.000+01:00

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

2006-11-21T00:40:00.000+01:00

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

2006-11-14T13:29:00.000+01:00

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

2006-11-07T11:59:00.000+01:00

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

2006-10-30T21:38:00.000+01:00

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

2006-10-24T21:40:00.000+02:00

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.

Ikea egg cups

2006-10-16T17:12:00.000+02:00

Some egg cup collectors don't like Ikea. They think too many old European potteries have been forced to close down because they were unable to compete with the Swedish company. Nevertheless, we can't complain too much: over the past years Ikea has been selling a wide range of quite original and more often than not beautiful egg cups. By offering them even in countries that have never been known for eating a lot of soft-boiled eggs, the company has contributed in its own way to keeping egg cups close to the world population.

Known and carefully noted details: 1) marked NaCI, made in Vietnam, marketed in 1999 [eggcup1980]; 2) marble, made in Taiwan, bought in 1990 [eggcup0984]; 3) made in Vietnam, bought in 2002 [eggcup2411]; 4) Raljans egg cup, made in Portugal, bought in 2002 [eggcup2412]; 5) wood, made in Vietnam, marketed in 1999 [eggcup2879]; 6) bouhgt in 1995 [eggcup1121]; 7) made in Vietnam, bought in 2001 [eggcup1981]; 8) made in China, has a "Hand made quality" sticker, was bought in 2001 [eggcup1985].

Please note that you will find two other Ikea egg cups in the Egg shaped egg cups selection: this covered egg cup, made in Thailand, and this one, made in Vietnam. The glass egg cup, that can also be used as a glass, is very similar to this Rasteli one that we had already seen in the Glass egg cups post.

Carlton Ware egg cups

2006-10-09T19:30:00.000+02:00

It's uncommon to find a pottery so strongly linked to the egg cups' world as the English Carlton Ware company. The firm, now defunct, has produced a wide range of pieces in different styles, the Walking Ware type being probably the most popular and undoubtedly the most influential of them all. Created at the beginning of the 1970s by Roger Michel and Danka Napiorkowska, both funding members of the Lustre Ware, the Walking Ware concept concerned not only egg cups, but plenty of different pieces like, for instance, mugs. Nevertheless, the vision of footed eggs certainly had a particular appeal that other pieces lacked. The range was introduced to the market in 1975 and it died when the company closed its doors, at the the end of the 1980s. But Carlton Ware (or Carltonware, as some call it) wasn't only about Walking Ware. It created also an important number of other pieces, some of them for merchandising purposes, like the Guinness or the Hovis egg cups, and some of them for external designers, like the Fluck & Law series. Carlton Ware is considered nowadays an extremely collectable name, and it's a known fact that some imitations have reached the market.

Known details: 1) Boss egg cup, marked "Carlton Ware, Made In England, Trade Mark" and "Lustre Pottery, 1976" [eggcup2580]; 2) from the Bean Bag series, produced in 1980, exists also in red [eggcup2392]; 3) marked "Carlton Ware, England, Lustre Poterry, 1980" [eggcup0030]; 4) from a series of crocodile-like objects produced during the last years of activity of the company [eggcups0940]; 5) from a series of objects related to Hovis Bakery firm, marked "Carlton W., England", [eggcup0504, bought in 1986]; 6) Wellingtons' model from the Walking Ware collection, exists also with black boots, marked "Carlton Ware, England, Lustre Pottery, 1980", [eggcup0018]; 7) produced in 1980, known as Big Foot egg cup; 8) covered model, produced in 1978 [eggcup3979].

Please don't forget that there are more Carlton Ware egg cups in other posts: you will find this Fluck & Law Prince Charles egg cup in the Famous people egg cups category, a funny egg shaped model in the Egg shaped egg cups family, and the first one of the Guinness egg cups in the Advertising and merchandising egg cups selection.

Very similar egg cups

2006-10-02T19:39:00.000+02:00

It's an undeniable fact: there are thousands and thousands of egg cups in the world (there are actually more than five thousand egg cups in this house, and we know this is only a very small portion of all the egg cups ever produced). Where do egg cup creators get their inspiration from? How can it be that there are so many different models and that new ones keep appearing? Well, some creators seem to like to look for inspiration in previously existing egg cups, and the truth is that models are not always THAT different. This is what we will explore in a series of posts titled "Very similar egg cups", a series that we start today with a plastic recreation of a china egg cup.

Known and maybe important details: 1) it's a non-footed china egg cup made by the German company Bareuther during the 1960 [eggcup1446]; 2) a very similar egg cup, made in plastic, with the same form as the previous one but including an integral saucer, produced by Belgian firm D.B.P. Plastics, probably at the end of 1970s/1980s [eggcup3362].

Egg cup sets

2006-09-26T16:46:00.000+02:00

Nowadays is hard to find a home with four people using egg cups at the same time every day and, therefore, it's also difficult to find sets of multiple egg cups in stores. In fact, most of the new egg cup sets include an intelligent way to store all your egg cups without taking too much space, so they won't disturb you in the kitchen during the (probably long) time that nobody uses them. Anyway, some antique egg cup sets are really nice, and that's what egg cup and retro ceramics collectors care about (well, mainly).

Known details: 1) marked "Woods ivory ware", produced by Woods & Son(s) probably during the 1930s [eggcup3837]; 2) marked "Crown Ducal Ware, England" [eggcûp2452]; 3) also produced by Crown Ducal Ware [eggcup2400]; 4) produced by Meubelfabriek Oisterbriek (The Netherlands) [eggcup2512]; 5) produced by Royal Winton, probably during the 1940s [eggcup3852]; 6) origin unknown, bought to British seller [eggcup3852]; 7) origin unknown, bought to British seller [eggcup3997].

Frog egg cups

2006-09-19T19:26:00.000+02:00

Frogs aren't the most popular animal in this egg cups' world, we know. Unlike rabbits or hens, they don't have any conceptual link with eggs, so it's understandable that they aren't featured in egg cups as often as them. What this selection wants to show is that even "secondary" animals like frogs can appear in a huge number of different models of egg cups, made in different styles, in different materials. We'll have a look at other animal egg cups another day.

Known and verified details: 1) plastic [eggcup3660]; 2) ceramic, marked CC. H.P. [eggcup2210]; 3) hand-made by potter Michel Auger for Poterie Auger, in St Amand en Puisaye (France) [eggcup4254]; 4) plastic, spoon marked "Salamanca", sold as a souvenir egg cup for the Spanish city Salamanca [eggcup3776]; 5) unglazed ceramic [eggcup2891]; 6) ceramic, bought in Italy in 1985 [eggcup0327]; 7) produced by Italian company Paolo Chiari [eggcup2930].

If you prefer to see egg cups with hens, please visit the Poultry egg cups post; if you're looking for rabbits, please check the Rabbit egg cups category.

WMF egg cups

2006-09-12T19:51:00.000+02:00

Here's another German company with a strong love for egg cups, but, this time, metal egg cups are its speciality. WMF has been producing egg cups since 1880 and still markets regularly new models, usually in stainless steel and with uncommon designs. This selections features some examples of WMF's production over the last decade. Ah, and just in case someone doubted of the company's passion por soft-boiled eggs, they even sell specially designed spoons to use with their egg cups.

Known and very objective details: 1) Eggo egg cup, bought in 1998 [eggcup 1388]; 2) stainless steel Cromargan 18/10 and SAN plastic, designed by Achim Bölster, bought in 2003 [eggcup3197]; 3) from the Zeno series, designed by Maiko Hasuike, bought in 1996 [eggcup1183]; 4) from the Kult collection, created by Sebastian Bergne, bought in 2006 [eggcup4824]; 5) SpiegelEi egg cup, from the Off Limits series of the Cromargan collection, designed by Achim Bölster and Judith Zeller, bought in 1997 [eggcup1387]; 6) For Lovers Only model from the Off Limits series of the Cromargan collection bought 1998 [eggcup1366]; 7) designed by IDEA collective for Auerhahn, a WMF mark; it's from their A/Design collection, bought in 2006 [eggcup4777].

If you like this selection, you might also enjoy the Modern design metal egg cups post or even the Modern design ceramic egg cups or the Modern design plastic egg cups categories.

If what you adore or collect are simlpy metal egg cups, make sure you've had a look at the Antique metal egg cups message.

Leonardo egg cups

2006-09-05T17:23:00.000+02:00

Leonardo is a prestigious German glassware company. Egg cups where absent from its catalogue until the end of the nineties, when somebody at the marketing department decided that they could help bring the company to a wider audience. The truth is that Leonardo egg cups are far from being cheap, but people were supposed to buy only one of those (modern design egg cups are generally bought as a unique and mainly decorative piece) and therefore having a Leonardo egg cup was meant to be less costly than possessing a Leonardo wine cup, because if you bought a wine cup then you needed the other eleven matching Leonardo wine cups. Does all this make real sense? Did it actually work? Did really more people than ever access to the Leonardo world via egg cups? I don't know, and I have to confess that I haven't found any of the pieces featured in this selection in the current catalogue from the company. They are nevertheless quite good looking, aren't they? Some them were created for Leonardo with the help of Justblue Design GmbH, a packaging, product- and graphic design company based in Hamburg.

Known and surely interesting details: 1) Orion egg cups from the "Mythos" Collection, designed by Veit Mahlmann with Justblue; it includes a salt cellar and a spoon [eggcup2054]; 2) this model exists also with the base in other colours [eggcup2079]; 3) Elica egg cup from the "Mythos" Collection, designed by Michele De Lucchi [eggcup1347]; 4) Early Bird egg cup, also from the "Mythos" Collection and designed by Veit Mahlmann with Justblue [1346]; 5) designed by Jorg María Gimmler for the "Mythos" Collection [eggcup1361].

If you like these egg cups, you might also enjoy the Modern design plastic egg cups post, or the Modern design ceramic egg cups selection, or, of course, the Modern design metal egg cups category. But maybe you're just interested in glass; then you'd rather visit the Glass egg cups family.

Egg shaped egg cups

2006-08-29T17:18:00.000+02:00

Egg cup creators are always looking for new sources of inspiration, and it could be that sometimes they don't look very far. What should they? Doesn't the egg itself have a marvelous shape, as well as unforgettable colours? In this selection we can see egg cups inspired more or less directly in different types of eggs or egg's states: hard-boiled, fried, as an eggshell or as a broken eggshell, for instance. I haven't found yet any egg cups imitating scrambled eggs, or maybe I found them but didn't recognise them. The important thing to know is that egg shaped egg cups produce what art critics love to call the mise-en-abîme effect: you'll eat your egg in an egg.

Known and maybe useful details: 1) no marks, bought in Italy in 1985 [eggcup0200]; 2) made in Thailand, Ikea [eggcup2878]; 3) made in Vietnam in 1999, Ikea [eggcup1982]; 4) made in Japan [eggcup1948]; 5) marked "Swed. reg. design No. 98/1959 Internat. regd. desn.", which means it was registered in Sweden [eggcup3359] 6) produced by Carlton Ware, end 70s/beginning 80s (United Kingdom) [eggcup2255]; 7) produced by Sia [eggcup2997]; 8) produced by Casablanca (Germany) [eggcup2147].

You probably already know where do eggs come from, but even so you may want to check the Poultry egg cups post.

Rabbit egg cups

2006-08-22T13:04:00.000+02:00

Rabbits are a traditional feature in egg cups, the link between one thing and the other being, of course, Easter. For our first excursion in the wide rabbit egg cups' world we'll skip plastic egg cups, but don't worry, there'll be a post with plenty of plastic rabbit egg cups very soon - and surely before Easter.

Known details: 1) Heinrich Hoppel rabbit from "Die Hasenbande" series, designed by S. Krauss for Bodum's Räder company (Germany) [eggcup4383]; 2) created by Stockholm's Bruka design (Sweden) [eggcup0924]; 3) made by Goebel (Germany) [eggcup3969]; 4) bought in Belgium, 2004's Easter [eggcup3327]; 5) marked "Made in Japan", both rabbits look symmetrical, but aren't; this egg cup exists also with different colour combinations [eggcup1893]; 6) wooden [eggcup1154]; 7) made in Japan, exists also with different colour combinations [eggcup2622].

Are there more egg cups featuring rabbits than egg cups featuring chickens, or the opposite? We sincerely don't know and the lack of statistics in the field doesn't help at all. If you want a wider picture of the subject, nevertheless, you could have a look at our Poultry egg cups selection or even et the Little chicken egg cups post.

Disclaimer

2006-08-15T13:49:00.000+02:00

This blog is curated by Gloria G. F., who is just the daughter of the collector, María José Fuster Brunet. It is made with the collector’s permission and help, but without her direct participation. Therefore, the views and opinions overtly or covertly expressed by the author do not necessarily state or reflect those of the collector, whose tastes might sometimes differ slightly. Thank you for taking this into consideration.

Glass egg cups

2006-08-08T14:38:00.000+02:00

This is an important advice for egg cup collectors and, in general, for people who'd like to keep some egg cups around for decorative porpuses: never leave too long a wooden egg in a glass egg cup. Wood may expand, glass surely won't, and the consequences could be terible. I have seen it with my own eyes. Having said this, why wouldn't everybody love glass egg cups? We do.

Known details: 1) sold by Rasteli [eggcup2302]; 2) [eggcup 1691]; 3) "Oeuf", produced by Rivièra Maison (Netherlands) [eggcup3716]; 4) hand painted by Óscar Hidalgo, Barcelona, 2000 [eggcup1830]; 5) made in Italy, "Papa" has been hand written later by a French speaker [eggcup1066]; 6) in "opaline de foire", produced by Portieux (France) [eggcup0616]; 7) can be used as a glass for water if turned upside down, sold by Rasteli [eggcup3342].

For more glass egg cups, please visit the Leonardo egg cups post. You could also have a look at the Poultry egg cups selection, where you will find this blue Luminarc egg cup, and the Common shaped egg cups post, where you'll see another Luminarc model, the Cocoon egg cup; where Ah, there's also an Arcopal egg cup with the Floral egg cups.

Egg cup couples

2006-08-01T17:41:00.000+02:00

Egg cups are sometimes marketed as couples and sold together. Actually, sometimes even if they happen to be sold separately it can be really difficult for the buyer to take one without its partner, because it has been designed and created as the perfect match. The couples featured in this post are all based on the male/female concept, but other types of couples can occur.

Known details: 1) made in Japan [eggcup1873]; 2) made in Japan [eggcup1872]; 3) produced by Rot Ceramic (Germany) [eggcup1441]; 4) produced by Rot Ceramic (Germany) [eggcup1442]; 5) woman [eggcupdesp5]; 6) man [eggcup4207]; 7) woman [eggcup 1761]; 8) man [eggcup 1762].

Plastic egg cups

2006-07-31T18:27:00.000+02:00

This selection aims to give a general overview of how can plastic - or, more precisely, plastics - be used in the egg cups' world. Sometimes it comes disguised as another material, sometimes it isn't ashamed to show itself. It's also important to notice that the increasing accuracy of plastic modeling has allowed the popularization of very cheap, highly resistent, very detailed and in some ways even funny pieces.

Known details: 1) marked " "W. Germany", produced by Emsa [eggcup0524]; 2) probably designed for camping [eggcup0321]; 3) has metal inside [eggcup1081]; 4) "Navvy Chimp" egg cup, from the series used by PG Tips since 1958 for advertising purposes [eggcup1568]; 5) [eggcup 2364]; 6) man with pipe [eggcup3467]; 7) produced by L. Dake En Zoon (The Netherlands) [eggcup 2331].

For more plastic egg cups, please check: Modern design plastic egg cups.

You will also find some plastic pieces here: Egg cup couples, Little chicken egg cups; there's also a Silea plastic egg cup in the Poultry egg cups' post.

Modern design ceramic egg cups

2006-07-30T20:23:00.000+02:00

We've already seen some modern design egg cups in plastic and in metal. Now's the turn for ceramic, a material that's far from having disappeared from contemporary designers' hearts and (breakfast) tables. As seen in the current selection, the shapes tend to be abstract and the most used colours are grey and green, but everything is possible.

Known details: 1) produced by Waechtersbach, for the "Real Life - Basic Equipments" collection [eggcup2543]; 2) made by the Manufacture de Lunéville-St Clément (France) [eggcup1959]; 3) probably made in Denmark [eggcup 1107]; 4) from the Morningtime collection, produced by Gargantua (Switzerland), sold by Habitat [eggcup 4704]; 5) produced by Fisura (Spain) [eggcup 3051]; 6) produced by Sagaform (Sweden), spoon and hat are sometimes sold separately [eggcup4523]; 7) designed by Asa Lindberg Svensson, produced by Sagaform (Sweden) [eggcup4828]; 8) probably made in Belgium [eggcup 1207]; 9) sold by Habitat [eggcup 2846].

If you like modern design egg cups, you might be happy to check the Modern design plastic egg cups selection and the Modern design metal egg cups post. If it's exactly modern design ceramic egg cups what you're looking for, make sure to check the Ikea egg cups category.

Floral egg cups

2006-07-29T09:15:00.000+02:00

Flower paintings and flower transfer pictures (as well as combinations of both) are an absolute classic for tableware in general, and for egg cups in particular. It could be argued that the most boring pieces are to be found in this category, but maybe the risk of being boring is just the price to pay when aiming to achieve absolute classicism. Anyway, flowers seem to be here to stay.

Known details: 1) produced by Pickman, Sevilla (Spain), winner of a golden medal at the 1862 London Exhibition [eggcup3917]; 2) "Chinese Rose" transfer and "Camilla" shape, produced by Spode (United Kingdom) [eggcup0352]; 3) sold by E. Vagnozzi, Roma (Italy) [eggcup3917]; 4) produced by Johann Seltmann (Germany) [eggcup3798]; 5) produced by Rörstrand (Sweeden) [eggcup3259]; 6) marked “Butterfly fine bone chine, Staffordshire" (United Kingdom) [eggcup4168]; 7) produced by Hutschenreuther (Germany) [eggcup1182]; produced by Arcopal (France) [eggcup2187].

If you'd like to see more floral egg cups, we encourage you to check this hand-painted and probably Austrian egg cup or this Bridgewater one from the Common shaped egg cups selection, and to visit the Porcelain egg cups post. Ah! This black Sagaform egg cup from the Modern design ceramic egg cups category also features some flowers.

Antique metal egg cups

2006-07-28T20:35:00.000+02:00

Metal egg cups are far more resistant than porcelain or glass egg cups and, therefore, it is much easier to find surviving antique pieces in metal than in glass or porcelain. But that's not the only great thing about antique metal egg cups: they also tend to offer more original and elaborated forms, as this selection shows (hopefully). If you want to see an antique metal egg cup in its own natural context, as well as a very entertaining film, I encourage you to see "Das Testament des Dr Mabuse", filmed by Firtz Lang in 1932. The egg cup appears near the end of the film.

1) aluminium, hollow foot [eggcup3929]; 2) maybe made in Austria [eggcup2112]; 3) brass, made in France by Le Crabe [eggcup1930]; 4) has been seen also without the base [eggcup2437]; 5) marked "Les Etains de Paris" [eggcup2055]; 6) marked "Bath & Chaves", an identical model appears in 1907 WMF catalog [eggcup0615]; 7) marked E.P.N.S. ("Electro-Plated Nickel Silver") [eggcup1923].

If you like metal egg cups, you'd be delighted with our Modern design metal egg cups selection. If what you're looking for are antique egg cups with some parts in metal and others not, you could check this Grosvenor Works egg cup or this Meir Ware one from the Integral saucer egg cups post.

Famous people egg cups

2006-07-27T19:02:00.000+02:00

The members of the British Royal Family were probably the first personalities to be featured on egg cups, and they still appear in an important number of souvenir and commemorative pieces. But they are not the only ones. Egg cups with TV, cinema and music celebrities are also getting quite numerous. The featured people may not always be of great historic relevance, but they'll always have their public.

Known details: 1) "To celebrathe the 70th birthday of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II", 1996, produced by Coronet Pottery [eggcup4220]; 2) Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, produced in 1982 by Carlton Ware for Fluck and Law [eggcup0015]; 3) Laurel and Hardy, produced by Rayware, marked "Rayware, ceramics for today" [eggcup2472]; 4) Josephine de Beauharnais, produced by "F. D. Porcelaine de luxe, France", sold as Waterloo souvenir (Belgium) [eggcup0702]; 5) Marilyn Monroe [eggcup3795]; 6) Sarah Montague from BBC Radio 4's Today programme, produced by Bairstow Manor Pottery, sold in 2005 to support Children in Need [eggcup4601]; 7) Ainsley Harriot, chef and "Ready Steady Cook" host, produced by Bairstow Manor Pottery [eggcup4878]; 8) Sir Winston Churchill, produced by Bairstow Manor Pottery [eggcup3430].

If you'd like to see some egg cups with anonymous people, you could visit the Egg cup couples post.

Poultry egg cups

2006-07-26T20:32:00.000+02:00

No hen, no egg. No egg, no egg cup. And no egg cups, no egg cup collectors! So, no egg cup collection without lots, lots and lots of pieces related to the fascinating poultry world. They clearly are one of the most popular animals in the egg cups' world, probably second only to rabbits.

Known details: 1) fine china, made by Royal Worcester [eggcup2283]; 2) Luminarc [eggcup1101]; 3) hand-made, made in Spain [eggcup2161]; 4) fine china, made in Staffordshire (United Kingdom); 5) made by Anita Tarsted Arhus, sold by Skandinavisk Design Center Artium, Copenhagen (Denmark); 6) produced by Pillyvuit (France) [eggcup2057]; 7) "Cook-a-doodle-doo" [eggcup3424]; 8) made in Latvia [eggcup2418]; 9) made in China, produced by Silea (France) [eggcup3319]; 10) hen only in spoon [eggcup2752].

For more poultry egg cups, don't forget to click on the Little chicken egg cups post; you might also want to see this fake grass and hen egg cup from the Egg cups in unusual materials selection. There's also a hen on the top of this egg cup with hourglass from the Antique metal egg cups post.

Egg cups in unusual materials

2006-07-25T18:59:00.000+02:00

Egg cups are usually made of ceramic, metal, wood, glass or plastic, but they can be made with anything else. Or at least that's what we're obliged to believe after seeing what we've seen. Sometimes the material used can be so rare or so beautiful that no extra decoration is needed - that's what happens most of the time with all the different varieties or marble, for instance. But it can also happen that the unusual material is used in order to allow detailed decoration - that concerns papier maché, used because it's easier to produce perfectly looking painted pieces with papier maché than with wood.

Known details: 1) includes fake grass [eggcup2233]; 2) soapstone, made in Kenya [eggcup0670]; 3) marble, made in Pakistan [eggcup3349]; 4) includes water, "Happy Flowers" series by Culto (Germany) [eggcup4647]; 5) elastomer, "Baby" egg cup designed by Fred Rieffel for Pylones (France) [eggcup1430]; 6) silicon, "Weich-ei" egg cup designed by Helena Leba (Germany), Softies collection [eggcup2968]; papier maché, "made in USSR" [eggcup0850].

If you like to see some impossible and virtual egg cups, please check refer to The Ultimate Egg Cup Resources Guide post.

If you want to see egg cups in more usual materials, you could check the Porcelain egg cups category, the Wooden egg cups page, the Glass egg cups selection, the Plastic egg cups introduction or, of course, all of them.

Famous characters: transfer egg cups

2006-07-24T17:58:00.000+02:00

How can a very normal egg cup be transformed into a highly desirable and/or collectable object? Try putting a picture transfer of a world famous TV or cartoon character on it. If impossible, a locally famous TV or cartoon character might work as well. In the current selection we can see some exemples of egg cups with transfer pictures of famous or supposedly famous characters and, as you can observe, not all the transfers have been put on common shaped egg cups. Which means that some imagination could be at play here to. At least potentially.

Known details: 1) Miss Petticoat [eggcup0191]; 2) Martine [eggcup4101]; 3) Tintin [eggcup4060]; 4) Popstar Mickey Mouse egg cup, produced by United Labels AG [eggcup4102]; 5) Winnie-The-Pooh [eggcup3366]; 6) Tinky Winky from the Teletubbies [eggcup3360]; 7) tiger and rabbit from Winnie-The-Pooh, made in Thailand, sold only at Disney Stores [eggcup3449]; 8) Barbie, made in China for Spearmark [eggcup2277]; 9) Barbie [eggcup3361]; 10) Betty Boop, 1999 [eggcup1469]; 11) Spiderman, produced by Kinnerton, 2002 [eggcup2996]; 12) Miffy, made by Mepal Rosti [eggcup3103]; 13) Gaston Lagaffe [eggcup1480].

If you like egg cups featuring famous characters, you could be interested in checking the Tropico Diffusion egg cups post, where you'll find egg cups like the Sylvester The Cat one, the yellow Barbapapa one or the Babar one, as well as many others.

Modern design metal egg cups

2006-07-23T16:12:00.000+02:00

It started during the 80's, but it was far more popular in the 90's: the urge to possess and design metal egg cups that looked like anything but egg cups. As long that an egg could be put there, the object should be considered an egg cup. Afterwards, the big revolution came from Italy and it consisted in mixing metal with plastic, bringing some colour and plenty of fun to the cold world of stainless steel.

Known details: 1) produced by Daniel Hechter (France) [eggcup0552]; 2) produced by Zack (Germany) [eggcup2621]; 3) stainless steel [eggcup3230]; 4) Filio series, designed by Ralph Krämer, produced by Mono (Germany) [eggcup3658]; 5) sold by Blokker [eggcup4386]; 6) Girotondo egg cup, designed by King Kong (Stefano Giovannoni and Guido Venturini), 1991, produced by Alessi (Italy) [eggcup1202]; 7) Barnum egg cup, from Tredicesima series, produced by Mepra (Italy) [eggcup2762]; 8) might be called "Walking egg" or "Mister egg" (sources differ), designed by Jan Hansen and Frank Person [eggcup1498].

If you like modern design egg cups, it could be a good idea to check the Modern design plastic egg cups post or the Modern design ceramic egg cups page.

If what you enjoy are metal egg cups, it would be better to go first to the Antique metal egg cups category, where nevertheless you should not expect to find only simply conceived or traditionally shaped pieces - check this French Le Crabe egg cup or this Electro-Plated Nickel Silver one with salt cellar as a proof of it.

Porcelain egg cups

2006-07-22T12:30:00.000+02:00

In this egg cups' world, porcelain stands for elegance. And, in general, for classical elegance. If you add to this the fact that some porcelain egg cups are the work of the most prestigious of manufactures, who have years or even centuries of experience in their field, you will understand that it's difficult to go wrong with them. This selection gives a general view of fine china pieces coming from different European countries. Please enjoy.

Known details: 1) The Empire Porcelain Company, from Empire Works, Stoke On Trent (United Kingdom) [eggcup2035]; 2) decorated with "echt Kobalt", made by Reichenbach (Germany) [eggcup1193]; 3) Gold series, made by Neoclássica (Portugal) [eggcup3881]; 4) made in Finland [eggcup4375]; 5) produced by Chodziez (Poland) [eggcup3839]; 6) produced by Cerom (Roumania) [eggcup0864]; 7) "Aux barbeaux" style, made by Porcelaine du Lys Royal in Aixe Sur Vienne, near Limoges (France) [eggcup1283]; 8) Apponyi style, made by Herend (Hungary) [eggcup0726]; 9) Brambly Hedge transfer, made by Royal Doulton (United Kingdom) [eggcup4366]; 10) "Farandole" egg cup, produced by Haviland, Limoges (France) [eggcup3062].

If you want to see more porcelain egg cups, it's suggested to check: the Common shaped egg cups selection, where you will find, for instance, this André Courrèges piece; the Rare artistic egg cups page, to have a look at this NS Porcelaines cubic egg cup; the Poultry egg cups post, where this Royal Worcester's hen is waiting for you; or the Floral egg cups category, to examine a fine bone china piece.

Advertising and merchandising egg cups

2006-07-21T19:34:00.000+02:00

Yes, some companies like to include egg cups in their advertising and merchandising strategies - and they don't necessarily have to be chocolate eggs' producers. Even French cheese companies have done it. Advertising and merchandising egg cups come in almost all materials and designs and don't always bear the name of a company in their body, although usually they will, making it easier to adscribe them to this quite attractive category. The existence of collectors of companies' memorabilia, like, for instance, Guinness memorabilia, gives this egg cups even a stronger degree of desirability.

Known details: 1) Milka, for 2003 Easter season [eggcup3465]; 2) Milka, for 2006 Easter season [eggcup4831]; 3) Cadbury's Creme Egg, 1989 [eggcup1557]; 4) Cadbury's Caramel Egg, made in England [eggcup4162]; 5) marked "Rouy d'Or, Dijon: fromage de santé", was probably given for free with the cheese [eggcup2585]; 6) Chamois d'Or, probably also given for free with the cheese [eggcup1034]; 7) Harrods, produced by Wade 1990-97 [eggcup2220] ; 8) first model of Guinness' egg cups, produced by Carlton Ware with a James Blackmore Ltd.'s licence in 1980 [eggcup2286].

Please note that in the Plastic egg cups selection you will find a chimp egg cup used by PG Tips, it's one of the famous chimps used by the company for promotion (well, famous at least in the field of egg cup collecting). In the Carlton Ware egg cups post you can see a Carlton Ware Hovis egg cup.

Integral saucer egg cups

2006-07-20T08:33:00.000+02:00

In a sense, an integral saucer egg cup is a common shaped egg cup with a bigger base. The important element is actually the big base, because it will play a major role in keeping the table clean and it does also reinforce the egg's presence. Integral saucer egg cups are known to be produced almost everywhere, but are particularly popular in the field of Devon pottery, where integral saucers seem almost as current as buckets, for instance.

Known details: 1) probably made in Switzerland [eggcup1443]; 2) made at Philippe Lehmann's studio, Soufflenheim (France) [eggcup3935]; 3) marked "St Paul A.M." [eggcup0857]; 4) marked "Meir Ware B.B. Ltd. Staffs", produced by Baker Bros., 1930/37, Stoke-On-Trent (United Kingdom) [eggcup1850]; 5) handmade at Manufacture de Montagnon, Nevers (France) [eggcup4331]; 6) marked Grosvenor Works, produced by Jackson & Gosling (United Kingdom) [eggcup4180]; 7) made in Cordes Sur Ciel (France) [eggcup2750]; 8) made in Cyprus [eggcup3348].

Maybe you'd like to check the Common shaped egg cups selection to see egg cups without integral saucers, or go to the Frog egg cups post to check this Poterie Auger's froggy integral saucer.

The Ultimate Egg Cup Resources Guide

2006-07-19T17:12:00.000+02:00

1) On egg cups

On designing egg cups: "Eggs and Egg-cups", by Paolo Frello for Dolce Vita Design.
On ‘The Birth of an Egg Cup’, 1946 exposition to promote British Industrial Design.
Fernando Pessoa's reflexions on the essence of marketing and egg cups: "A essência do comércio", in Portuguese.
'Le Coquetier Ivre / Der betrunkene Eierbecher', made by Hans Arp in 1926.
'Egg cup' and 'Eierbecher' entries in Wikipedia.
Our other blog, Una huevera al día, in Spanish.
"Onori e blog sul portauovo", by Cristina Nadoti, for La Repubblica; it includes comments on our other blog and it's written in Italian.
María José Fuster's 'Las hueveras también tienen su historia', in Spanish.
A brief "History of the Egg Cup" used for the exhibition of Mr. & Mrs. Gordon Stuart's collection at the Poway Historical and Memorial Society in Poway (California).
'Whistling Cups - For Eggs N' Milk', article on whistling egg and milk cups by Pat Stott-Prince.

2) On egg cup collecting

"The Joy of Egg Cups", by Rbirdies, in The GPSA Gazette.
"The World is an Eggcup", by Irving Scott, for ‘Antiques Diary’ magazine.
'Pocillovy' entry: a weird word according to World Wide Words.
"Le coquetier à la table des grands", article on French collector Alain Desgranges and his collection, in French.
'It’s no yolk', article on Sabine Joyce and her collection, written by Theresa Winslow for The Capital, Annapolis.
We've found a number of strange comments on egg cups collecting at the "A-Z of crazy pastimes" section from BBC Wales' Just the job site: they say that people who thought about "collecting eggcups commemorating, say, Prince William’s 18th birthday" should rather "go mainstream", meaning they'll have more fun "collecting eggcups full stop. Or eggcups of a particular colour. Or eggcups manufactured in a certain country. Something like that". The main problem being that all this is discussed under the "Zzzzz" subsection. Read it with your own eyes here. And see how they call the Egg-Cup Collectors' Club a "bizarre collection society" here.

3) Egg cups in museums and exhibitions

Sydney's Powerhouse Museum of Science and Design has an important quantity of egg cups in its collection. It is searchable on-line. Worth checking out are, for instance, a 19th Century English egg cruet in Sheffield plate; an Elkington silver plated circular egg cup stand and matching egg cups, produced circa 1870; a pair of whale tooth egg cups; a Curl/Adelaide Potteries Ltd stoneware egg cup in the form of a chicken, produced between 1900 and 1915, and four earthenware buckets from Martin Boyd Pottery, produced in 1963.
Chamberlains & Co 1802 egg cup; it belonged to Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's breakfast service and is now at the National Maritime Museum, in London (UK).
Pickmann 1862 egg cup, at the Palacio Real de Madrid (Spain).
Fayence egg cup, 1760-1770, at the Museums of the City of Bamberg (Germany).
Here's a 1951 Festival of Britain souvenir copper egg cup bearing an enamelled logo; it was produced to commemorate a festival designed to promote British art, design and industry; it's a property of the Museum of London.
Egg cup marked "El Marqués de Santa Coloma", from the Museu d'Història de Tarragona (Spain).
In the Heimatmuseum from Strausberg (in Germany) took place in 2005 a "Osterausstellung" with a lot of interesting egg cups; here's a nice feature concerning it.
The Middleton Area Historical Society Museum (in Middleton, Wisconsin) welcomes a whole collection of egg cups, as well as a collection of Depression glass that will probably be of interest for egg cup collectors. Practical information can be found here.

4) Egg cup collector's sites

Egg Cup Collectors Club of Great Britain; they publish the magazine "Egg Cup World".
Egg Cup International Club's page; the Club has a newsletter called "Egg Cup update".
Our favourite collector's site: Barbara Haußmann and Gunnar Galster's collection; they live in Germany and collect egg cups in couples.
Ovamaria's site; anonymous "eggcuplady" has been a collector since 1966!
Bob Paton's site; he lives in Rochester, Kent (England).
Ad Koetsier's site; he lives in The Netherlands.
Joëlle and Jean-Claude's site; they live in France and they like classical music.
Sheena's Egg Cups' site; she specialises in pieces with a "Royal" connection.
Pat Stott's page; she is the author of "The collectors book of Egg cups", a 1993 price guide.
Tricia's Eggcup Page; she collects egg cups on-and-off.
Judy Becker's profile; she is an Australian pocillovist.
Somebody's mother-in-law's collection, as well as her nice shelves.
Here's a post from an anonymous French blogger and egg cup collector who believes that egg cups are a French invention.
A marvelous collection of Devres pottery egg cups, in a style knwon as "Vieux Rouen", on-line thanks to La Fourmaintrie site.
London musician Erin Lang doesn't have a site on her personal collection but wrote a very nice post on TV Resistori called "Music to shop for egg cups by".

5) Virtual and D.I.Y. egg cups

Roberto Zanon's impossible "portauovo".
'Sonntagsei', a "less is more" egg cup by Thomas Höhnel from Berlin.
'Node' Silicon Egg Cup project, by Ross Nicholls, for The University of New South Wales' Faculty of the Built Environment.
D.I.Y. fake leather egg cup; instructions here (in French).
Improvised egg cup, by Die Wise Guys.
Improvised Yoghurt-egg hybrid, by framboise.
Improvised egg cup made using a wet tissue, by jdpilgrim.
Improvised egg cup with bottle top, by l'alex.
How to make egg cups with toilet paper tubes.
Camera-phone-eggcup, by Bahi P.
Looking for origami egg cups? Different models like this one or this other one can be found here.

6) Most amazing egg cups pictures

7) Things to do with egg cups

Eat soft boiled eggs.
Eat soft boiled eggs cooked with a kettle.
Create an ice lamp with a spiral egg cup.
Transform them into place-card holders; do it with a fake rose if you want to.
First put artificial grass inside them and then use them as place settings.
Decorate them with geometric forms (in French).
Give the essential fashion touch to your dolls' house table.
Wear them as fake headphones.
Use them as fake glasses; this looks like a popular activity.
Construct a musical instrument with a pulled apart hard-drive; waltonics did it.

8) Other intersting or curious links

'That Installation With The Eggs'; installation with 350 egg cups, by artist Eddie D.
Calgary Woodturners' site; they are the Calgary International Egg Cup Turning Competition organisers.
'Egg cups for lovers' (Eierbecher für Verliebte) made by Schulhaus Bernarda's pupils (Altdorf, Switzerland).
'The Defragmented Egg egg cup' created by Arnaud Dubois.
PC game 'La Poule aux Oeufs d'Or': the winner needs the hen to give him as many eggs as egg cups he sees.
'The Price is Right', Daphna Levin's short-film featuring egg cup scenes.
Architectural projects for egg cups from the University of Applied Sciences of Cologne's Faculty of Architecture.
Gathie Falk's 'Picnic with Clock and Egg Cups' (1976).
How to say 'egg cup' in Flemish Sign Language.
Birdbrain, the animated egg cup, by Cleo Hehn ; check 'The Birdbrain Show' or 'Birdbrain's Fever Dream' and discover its incredible adventures.
Miniature egg cup set.
A still life painting with an "American shape" double egg cup, by Erik Leighton Koeppel.
A ring that looks like an egg cup! You can't believe it? Look at it again!
Do you miss your egg cup collection when you are away from home? Maybe you should reach Silverton (Oregon), where you will find a Bed & Breakfast offering two suites decorated with egg cups. At least that's what it's said here.

9) Off-line recommended egg cup resources

Blake, Brenda C., "Egg Cups: An Illustrated History and Price Guide", The Glass Press, Marietta, Ohio, 1995; extremely useful.
Hashemi, Javad, "The Joy of Collecting Egg Cups", Arian Publications, Solihull, 1998.
Hörter, C. and E., "Eierbecher", Berta-Verlag, Weilheim, 2004; this is an absolute must have, especially if you're interested in German egg cups.

10) Who's afraid of collecting egg cups?

Did Virginia Woolf collect egg cups? We believe she did. Not only do egg cups appear recurrently in her writings, but, moreover, a document known as "Notes on collecting egg cups" is to be found in the Frances Hopper's documents concerning Woolf at Smith College's Mortimer Rare Book Room. In the notes we find this enigmatic sentence: "This little Egg Cup from Harriet's coalport is where it all began - and with it goes this little silver egg spoon marked C for Comstock and this little decapitator from London". Harriet Marian (Minny) Thackeray Stephen was the name of the first wife of Woolf's father. The title of the notes obliges us to believe that the "all" in "all began" refers to collecting egg cups.

11) Details on this page's collages:

Collage 1: A) from a French postcard marked "Phototypie A. Bergeret, Nancy"; there are actually two of the same style, with crying and with smiling children (a modern version of this postcard can be seen here); B) from a French ad for "Le coquetier bordelais", an egg cup specially designed to avoid spilling; C) from a Belgian ad for "Bonjour Bruxelles" radio programme on BXL FM radio, published in Vlan, july 2005; D) from Catalan politician Carod Rovira caricture, made by Virgili, published in El País, 10th February 2004.
Collage 2: A) from a 1893 painting by Danish painter Peter Severin Kroyer, part of The Hirschsprung Collection in Copenhagen; B) from Egg Cup World issue 44's cover, it was the Autumn 2005 issue; C) from a small articule on modern egg cups published in Spanish El Mundo's Magazine; D) from an official photo for Herz-Hotel Gut Höing, in Unna (Germany).
Collage 3: A) from a Spanish ad for Audemars Piguet watches; B) from Bernard Werber's "L'encyclopédie du savoir relatif et absolu", published by Albin Michel/Le Livre de Poche; C) virual egg cup created by Belgian Columbus egg producer for advertising purposes; D) part of the flyer edited for the first exhibition of María José Fuster's egg cups.
Collage 4: A) Agri Natura's pin, in the shape of an egg on an egg cup; B) taken from a Royal Magic's Ball Vases's box, "Remove the ball, vanish the ball, ball reappears"; C) Brussel's souvenir magnet, with a "Hello!" egg cup; D) a mini collection of ultra small egg cups.
Collage 5: A) 19th century French "Cocotte façon journal" as shown in the article "La ronde des coquetiers", written by Alice Dailly, in "Art & Décoration", April/May 2000, p. 141; B) retro plastic egg cups look like the most important modern trend; Gael Maison suggests everybody should get theirs from second hand stores in its 06/0081 issue, published September 2006 (see p. 140 and 144); C) sample of the notebooks where the collector keeps track of all new egg cups, with a couple of egg cup's sketches; D) German paper napkin featuring an egg cup.
Collage 6: A) detail from an advert for Miele's kitchens where we see a kitchen with two made in China plastic egg cups and the slogan "For those who have syle... their style", created for the Belgian market; B) taken from an article that declares it's a good idea to start the week with a soft-boiled egg, Mode & Travaux n° 1203, February 2001; C) a happy family eating soft boiled eggs - they appear in an advert for Somfy's electric door openers; D) a bigger picture from the Miele's kitchen advert.
Collage 7: A) a spiral egg cup with a spectacular egg, from Madame magazine, published at the beginning of the 90s; B) detail from the cover of Jacqueline's Wilson "Clean break", a children book illustrated by Nick Sharratt and published by Corgi Yearling (2005); C) detail from the cover of "Le petit livre des recettes aux oeufs" by Héloise Martel, First Editions (2004); D) is it a good idea to use glass egg cups at children's parties? a Spanish magazine thinks so, but maybe only if you use the pictured Vinçon model (Micasa, n° 59, year V, p. 188).
Collage 8: A) detail from the cover of the book "Over 1.000 illustrated egg cups", by Maureen Ballantyne; B) a potter creating egg cups at the Abió e Hijos pottery at Bandaliés (Huesca); C) an article from La Vanguardia with a picture of Joan Brossa's "Ou" visual poem, with a white egg cup (1988); D) similar white egg cups, with candles, as pictured for Campagne Décoration, n° 26, March-April 2005.
Collage 9: A) from the cover of "Eierbecher", already mentioned; B) from the back cover of "The Joy of Collecting Egg Cups", already mentioned; C) from the cover of "Collecting egg cups: An introduction to pocillovy by Winnie Freeman (Wise Books, Reigate); D) from the cover of "Egg cups: An Illustrated History and Price Guide", already mentioned.

Tropico Diffusion egg cups

2006-07-18T20:52:00.000+02:00

The French company Tropico Diffusion sells a wide range of products featuring famous characters and registered marks. And it looks like they love to use their licenses to create figural ceramic egg cups. Actually, they did produce at least one footed (non figural) egg cup a long time ago, but over the years they have been specialising in figural ones, with a recurrent tendency to explore the possibilities of having the famous character next to some object where the soft-boiled egg can rest. All in ceramic, yes.

Known details: 1) Sylvester The Cat, 1996 [eggcup2444]; 2) Donald Duck [eggcup2020]; 3) Daisy Duck [eggcup2021]; 4) Barbazoo, from the Barbapapa family, also known as Barbayellow [eggcup2627]: 5) Bécassine [eggcup1397]; 6) Babar [eggcup2627]; 7) Tom [eggcup2615]; 8) Jerry [eggcup2616]; 9) Calimero [eggcup1786].

If you like egg cups with famous characters, which, to say the truth, can get quite collectable, please refer to the Famous characters: transfers post; you will find there egg cups featuring i. e. Twinky Winky, Barbie or Spiderman.

Wooden egg cups

2006-07-17T18:39:00.000+02:00

Wooden egg cups are produced in every continent, with almost all kinds of woods. They can be hand-made or industrial; they can be decorated or plain, glazed or unglazed, figural or footed, made of rare wood or not. Plain wooden egg cups are usually very cheap and easy to work with: this explains why nowadays a lot of people use them for D.I.Y. activities. For our first walk through the world of wooden egg cups, we'll concentrate on footed ones, leaving the figurals for the next time.

Known details: 1) birch wood, produced by Aarikka (Finland) [eggcup0156]; 2) distributed by Brin de Folies (France) [eggcup1621]; 3) "Joséphine" name engraved [eggcup3092]; 4) hand painted [eggcup3355]; 5) this hand painted egg cup is the first one ever sent to us by a blog reader, Pato_Musa [eggcup4378]; 6) of industrial origin[eggcup1800]; 7) made in Rwanda [eggcup0437]; 8) lignum vitae wood, made in Jamaica [eggcup0510].

If you like footed wooden egg cups, please don't forget there's one with pyrography art by Daniel Fuster in the Rare artistic egg cups selection. There's also a wooden egg cup with a tea-drinking rabbit in the Rabbit egg cups post, but it's not a footed piece.

Little chicken egg cups

2006-07-16T19:43:00.000+02:00

It may sound like a paradox, but smiling little chickens can be the perfect company to enjoy a perfectly cooked soft-boiled egg. Yes: in the real world, an egg means no smiling little chicken, and a smiling little chicken means no egg, but the egg cups' world is not exactly like the real one. Little chickens and soft-boiled eggs can be at same time on your table, in total harmony. Be careful, nevertheless: even in the egg cups' world not all little chickens smile, and some of them may even look quite scary.

Known details: 1) made in China for Russ (United States) [eggcup2404]; 2) hand-made at HB Henriot manufacture, Quimper (France) [eggcup4051]; 3) "Mon p'tit poussin" egg cup, made by CTC Design (France) [eggcup2230]; 4) made in Japan [eggcup2521]; 5) produced by Bacova (United States) [eggcup2828]; 6) illustration by Jane Brookshaw, from "Funky Farm" series, produced by Dunoon (United Kingdom) [eggcup1645]; 7) little chicken only in spoon, produced by CTC Design (France) [eggcup2888]; 8) signed H.C. "Anfibu" [eggcup3662]; 9) produced by H. R. W. Fink (Germany) [eggcup4389].

Looking for bigger chickens? Please refer to Poultry egg cups. You prefer rabbits? Check Rabbit egg cups.

Common shaped egg cups

2006-07-15T16:21:00.000+02:00

Egg cup collectors and specialists usually refer to single footed egg cups as "common shaped". Cup, foot and base are the three main parts of this type of egg cups - if the foot is missing and, therefore, cup and base touch each other, you can call the egg cup's shape "European" instead of "common". This doesn't mean that you won't find "common shaped egg cups" in Europe. Actually, "common shaped egg cups" typically abound in all times and styles, as well as in all places, including Europe. Of course, the fact of having a "common shape" is not an obstacle for them to develop their own personality: the material used, the colour, the decoration (i. e., hand-made or with a transfer picture) will contribute to define it.

Known details: 1) hand-painted, probably Austrian [eggcup0805]; 2) produced by Bridgewater (United Kingdom), includes inside painting [eggcup1314]; 3) with metal border [eggcup3687]; 4) created by André Courrèges for Porcelaine de Paris (France) [eggcup3469]; 5) hand-painted, DeSimone studio (Italy) [eggcup3431]; 6) made in Germany [eggcup4809]; 7) Cocoon egg cup, produced by Luminarc (France) [eggcup1563].

If feel like seeing more "common shaped egg cups", you could check this truly elegant Empire Work's one from the Porcelain egg cups selection; this highly tactile soapstone one, from Kenya, featured in the Egg cups in unusual materials post; the Coronet Pottery's one, from the Famous people egg cups familiy; this wooden one with dolphins, from the Wooden egg cups category; the Pickman's egg cup featured with more Floral egg cups; or even the Tintin egg cup from the Famous characters: transfer egg cups page. As noted, "common shaped egg cups" are almost everywhere, that's why we call them this way.

Transportation egg cups

2006-07-14T21:10:00.000+02:00

Transportation egg cups are one of the most popular types of figural egg cups, probably due to their appeal to children. They can represent cars, planes, trains, and a lot of different moving engines. Ceramic transportation egg cups were especially popular in the 80s. Nowadays there might be less new egg cups of this type on the market, but, still, new models do appear almost constantly. The big difference is that now specialisation and nostalgia seem to be two of the keywords in the field. A company -author of the first three of the featured egg cups - is currently directly targetting collectors and nostalgics with its highly-detailed and almost iconic transportation egg cups.

Known details: 1) mod Vespa, including salt cellar [eggcup4595]; 2) hippie Volkswagen van, including salt cellar [eggcup4136]; 3) "Traveller" Morris Minor Estate, including salt cellar [eggcup4026]; 4) produced by Knobler (Japan) [eggcup2582]; 5) Routemaster bus, made by Border Fine Arts (United Kingdom) [eggcup2379]; 6) hand-painted [eggcup2245]; 7) hand-painted [eggcup1177]; 8) made in England, probably by Honiton [eggcup2287]; 9) Airbus A340 [eggcup2203].

I don't know if somebody would like to consider a transportation egg cup this Milka skateboarding egg cup from the Advertising and merchandsing egg cups selection.

Rare artistic egg cups

2006-07-13T17:41:00.000+02:00

In the world of egg cup collecting there's a long list of what could be called must-have pieces: the Carlton, Goebel and other Royal Copenhagen's egg cups that everybody talks about, writes about and bets on. But, at the same time, there's an uncountable number of beautiful confidential egg cups waiting to be patiently discovered and carefully looked at. These are some of the most appreciated hand-made egg cups of the collection. Some of them are unique pieces, others are very limited.

Known details: 1) Pyrography art by Daniel Fuster Brunet, 1991, Barbastro (Spain) [eggcup1033]; 2) made by Jenaro Paricio Loscos, in Belmonte de San José (Spain) [eggcup3990]; 3) made and signed by J.L. [eggcup3487]; 4) made and signed by A. F. [eggcup1210]; 5) made by NS Porcelaines studio, St Éanne (France); 6) made by Belinda Brayshaw [eggcup1022].

Please note that you can find more aesthetically rewarding egg cups almost everywhere around this blog; if you like this Philippe Lehmann's piece, you can move directly to the Integral saucer egg cups selection; if you prefer the Early Bird egg cup created by Veit Mahlmann, you should jump to the Leonardo egg cups post.

Modern design plastic egg cups

2006-07-12T15:52:00.000+02:00

We start our visit through the collection with one of the materials more widely used by contemporary egg cup designers: plastic. Here we can see a selection of design egg cups coming from different European countries. Some were sold in expensive design shops, but one of them was bought at a supermarket. It's probably not too difficult to guess which one.

Known details: 1) Signed by "21" [eggcup2361]; 2) produced by Present Time (Netherlands), made in Taiwan [eggcup2410]; 3) "Feeling" egg cup, designed by Angeletti Ruzza studio, produced by Guzzini (Italy) [eggcup4063]; 4) "Cico portauovo", designed by Stefano Giovannoni for Alessi (Italy) [eggcup1950]; 5) "Uovo" egg cup, produced by Bodum (Switzerland) [eggcup3194]; 6) "Mangiauovo", designed by Guido Venturini and Carlo Terrile, produced by Alessi (Italy); 7) "Coquetier n° 9", designed by Reno for Pylones (France) [eggcup1321]; 8) "Eggs-O-Tic", produced by Bodum (Switzerland) [eggcup4404]; 9) egg cup for Deco Fresh collection, produced by Fackelmann (Germany), launched in 2003 [eggcup3672]; 10) signed by A.B., distributed in 1995 by London Design Museum [eggcup1138].

If you like modern design egg cups, you might also want to check: Modern design metal egg cups, Modern design ceramic egg cups. Actually, some metal pieces like Alessi's Girotondo egg cup and Mepra's Barnum egg cup also use plastic. Ceramic and plastic meet rarely, although some egg cups like this Sagaform stripped one are sometimes sold with plastic spoons.

For a general view on plastic egg cups, in all styles, please refer to: Plastic egg cups.

All categories overview

2006-07-11T11:11:00.003+02:00

An overview of the categories used to structure the blog:

By material:

Ceramic egg cups: porcelain egg cups
Wooden egg cups: wooden not figural / wooden figural
Metal egg cups: antique metal egg cups / metal egg cups in general
Glass egg cups
Plastic egg cups: plastic egg cups in general / Bakelite and old plastics
Egg cups in unusual materials

By shape:

Common shaped egg cups
Buckets
Double egg cups: hoops / American style / twins
Integral saucer egg cups
Egg in saucer
Figural: ceramic figurals in general / funny figurals
Antropomorphic ceramic egg cups
Anthropomorphic wooden egg cups
Face egg cups: faces / common shaped egg cups with painted faces
Egg cups with legs: Eggs on legs / Egg cups with real legs / Egg cups with unrealistic legs
Egg shaped egg cups
Heart-shaped egg cups
Cubic egg cups
Geometrically shaped egg cups
Spiral egg cups
Egg cups with a hole
Egg cup sets

By subject:

Famous characters: ceramic figurals / plastic figurals / transfers
Famous characters, by characters: Aardman Animations / Beatrix Potter / Humpty Dumpty / Postman Pat / Characters famous mainly in France / Characters famous mainly in the UK
Personalities egg cups
Animal egg cups: general / bears / birds / cats / cows / dogs / ducks / elephants / frogs / insects / koalas / mouses / penguins/ pigs / poultry egg cups in general / little chicken egg cups / rabbit egg cups in general / plastic rabbit egg cups / sheeps
Transportation egg cups
Floral egg cups: floral egg cups in general / chintz
Monks and religious egg cups
Black memorabilia egg cups
Egg cups with a message: messages in general / Egg is the message
Egg cup couples

By function:

Children's egg cups: children's egg cups in general / antique children's egg cups
Souvenir egg cups: in general / figurals / transfers / easily modifiable souvenir egg cups
Advertising and merchandising egg cups
Hotel egg cups
Multiple uses egg cups
Interactive egg cups
Christmas egg cups

By style:

Traditional pottery egg cups: in general / French / Italian / Portuguese / Spanish
Modern design egg cups: modern design ceramic egg cups / modern design metal egg cups / modern design plastic egg cups
Retro style: retro style ceramic egg cups / retro style plastic egg cups
Country kitchen style egg cups

By marks, creators and special places:

Arzberg egg cups
Bodum egg cups
Carlton Ware egg cups
Devon pottery egg cups
Fluck & Law egg cups
Goebel egg cups
Habitat egg cups
Ikea egg cups
Kahla egg cups
Leonardo egg cups
Limoges egg cups
Little known companies' egg cups
Luminarc egg cups
L. Dake en Zoon egg cups
Ritzenhoff's Friends' egg cups
Rosenthal egg cups
Speedy & Friends egg cups: authentic Speedy & Friends / false Speedy & Friends
Tropico Diffusion egg cups
Vallauris egg cups
Villeroy & Boch egg cups
Waechtersbach egg cups
Wedgewood egg cups
Wing series egg cups
WMF egg cups

Special selections:

Most innovative and original egg cups
New trendy egg cups
Rare artistic egg cups
Nicely packed egg cups
Recyled objects
DIY egg cups
Weird egg cups
Ultra kitsch
The ugliest egg cups
Broken egg cups
Very similar egg cups: 1: china vs. plastic
Hard to use egg cups
Not really egg cups

Details on this page's collages:

Collage 1: A) Eggy egg cup and other objects from the Eggy collection as presented by Arts & Décoration, April 2006, p. 80; B) the same, but in Cuisines & Bains magazine, January/February 2005, p. 57; C) spiral egg cup in an advert for Spanish company Discorsa "Objetos de Deseo" campaign; D) egg cup in the cover of a Villeroy & Boch catalogue.

About this blog

2006-07-10T22:01:00.000+02:00

Welcome to our new blog. Here you will find posts on all types of egg cups from María José Fuster’s collection.

María José Fuster is a historian and genealogist. She comes from Campo, a village located in the Spanish Pyrenees, and runs a blog on collecting, Proceloccionismo.

She has nearly 5.000 egg cups, but the house where she lives lacks the needed space to show all of them at the same time. Therefore, an important number of pieces have to stay out of the shelves, in boxes. By putting them on line and giving them more visibility, we try to compensate this lack of physical space.

If you want to find more information on egg cups, please visit our daily up-dated blog in Spanish, Una huevera al día. It has been awarded the Best Unclassifiable Blog 2005 prize by journal 20 Minutos. Both Una huevera al día and Egg cups are being taken care of by the collector's daughter, Gloria G. F., also known as lahuev, as reminded in this disclaimer.

This collection would be just a dream without the kind help and generous contributions of a long list of contributors. The list is currently being edited, and it includes:

Aiki family

Juan Antonio Abad and María

María Antonia Andreu

Amy (United States)

Arroyos Chárlez family

Ramón Auset

Señores Bastanchuri

Carmen Bayod and Bruce Taylor

Trini Bayod

Familia Berardi

Magda Blanch + Tomás

Luís Bombín

Leticia Bourges

Victoria Brunet

De Martelaer family

María Teresea Fábregas

Lola Feo

Familia Forcada

Carmen Fuster

Vicky and Fernando Fuster

Daniel Fuster Brunet

Roberto Fuster Brunet

Fina Galindo

Cristina and Yolanda Gallego Galán

Laura García

Ana García González

María Gloria González Vaqué

Sandra González

Grégory (Brussels)

Stéphane Hannaert

Óscar Hidalgo

Carme Huguet

Jean-Pierre (Roma)

Claudine Landewyck

Laura (Verónica's mother, neighbour)

Maria La Viola

Viviane Le Tellier

Isabel López

Lotta (Brussels)

Manel (Barcelona)

Mario (Roma)

Signora Marini

Marie-Thérèse/Maite

Eva Marmolejo

Tita Mársico

Josep Gabriel Martín

Victoria Mascaray

Montse Masdeu

Ana Mingot Comenge

Celia Miranda

Señores Mitsud

Stefan Pagel

Christina Papadeas

Verónica Pardo

Pato_Musa

Patrizia, Bernard, Ambra

Joana Persu

Pili Plaza

Anita Puertas

Sebastián Romero

Rosy y Esther (Monzón)

Ruth (Logroño)

Elisa Salamero

Victor Sanz Salamero

María Teresa Tolosa

Mariví Ugarte

María Gloria Vaqué Escandil

Margarita Willsted

Isabel Zarraolandía