Today is my first day with the meme Teacup Tuesday!
My mother was the teacup collector, not me. I kept several of her cups, but most I gave to her friends and fellow teacup collectors. However, I do LOVE tea and tea pots, so I thought this was a meme I'd enjoy. Thank you Martha for being our hostess.
We have a dear friend who visited his family in Taiwan shortly before Mr. Dragon had his surgery. He visited with us in the hospital and brought these wonderful gifts.
Almost too pretty to open!
Look what was inside!
They are lucky cups.
The lucky cup originated in the Sung Dynasty.
Made of porcelain clay and fired at 1260 C after shaping.
How to make it "sing"?
Just pour tea or water in it, one hand holds the bottom of the cup and with the other hand use your forefinger, rubbing the edge of the cup slowly and gently, and the cup will create melody.
And it does!
What about the design?
"In our memory, we could often see the colorful floral print bedding in the old granny's home, which was very trendy in Taiwan during the early 50's. True red color with peony, floral prints which represent luck and wealth, are often used on the beddings of the newly wed couples. Shin Tay Yuan Co., Ltd, with 38 years of experience in the transfer-printing industry for ceramics, brings the retro floral print into the new era by application of the prints onto the ceramics for daily usage."
Jim knows how I love ceramics and also included this wonderful book on the exhibition of Blue and White Wares. Like so many other cultures, there has been some dismay over the loss of their artisans, with mass produced wares. These exhibitions bring together ceramacists who keep the art alive.
I wanted to include this wonderful blue and white multi-functional tea set from the catalog.
"The set has 12 individual pieces, including a fruit plate, a candy box, tea plate, tea pot, tea cups, tea saucers. It combines practicality, an attractive appearance and is easy to put away!"
Joy To You!
29 comments:
Beautiful teacups Snap. This post reminds me of when I was a child and my mother would allow me to choose a new toy - I would nearly always choose a tiny tea set. I must have had dozens of them growing up. Haven't seen one in years - I may have to go searching!
In today's world, we have gone the Way of the Mug, even for tea. It's nice to see someone still loves and uses the traditional tea cup!
So beautiful. When I was in Japan I purchased so many lovely dishes, etc. Just love the colors and their designs. Also the history behind the pieces. Thanks for your sweet comments about my garden. Let's hope all the seeds and bolbs appear soon. I fear all the rain may have ruined some. I hope all is well for you two. Hugs, Sharon
Beautiful and you are lucky! It is true that hand craft is often overlooked for the "more" and "massed marketed" stuff. Here's me raising my cup to attention to detail and appreciation of beauty.
Your lucky cups are amazingly beautiful! What a lovely color of red and the flowers too.
How nice of your friend to give them to you too.
Thank you so much for sharing with us today.
Hugs,
Terri
Goodness!! How beautiful these pieces are!! Love the colors!!
Debbie
Hello Snap!!
I love your singing teacups!! How cool is that!! The red and pink are so cheery together.
And the blue and white set is gorgeous and such a pretty design!!
Thanks for sharing your treasures!
Hugs and Smiles,
Lynn
Hello,
Love the red singing cups! The blues are nice too but I have a thing for red, that's for sure! Thanks for stopping by for tea today and wishing you a wonderful day.
Blessings,
Sandi
So pretty, unique, colorful!
Really pretty .Meet you has been a pleasure.
Love
I would love to hear your singing teacups. The red is such a vibrant red. Thank you for sharing their history.
I love the blue and white set too.
Thank you for coming to tea. Please come back soon. We will want to see another treasure.
Pam
Yay..what a super gorgeous tea post..just beautiful! they are magical and the colors are wonderfully charming! happy tea!
Kiki~
Oh er missus he he very bright and look full of luck I hope they worked and really like the story behind them too
Love Dawn xx
Wonderful cups. That red sure is vibrant.
I hope that they bring you years of happiness and luck.
Hugs,
Penny
I would love to hear your singing cups. So pretty and what a great friend. Love the blue set also.
Thanks for stopping by.
Ginger
Teacups are so pretty. But they are so dainty that I'm afraid I'll break them.
What beautiful teacups you are sharing! I love the colors! Thank you for sharing :)
What gorgeous lucky cups! I am fond of oriental designs on porcelain but have been fortunate enough (hehehe) to not start a collection. Nice meme!
What a kind gift - and beautiful! My favorite color, too. I hope you and Mr Dragon enjoy sipping your tea from them.
Beautiful Teacups. I would love to hear them sing. I have heard of singing cups before. They are so interesting and beautiful. Take care.
Oh, what amazing teacups! So, so very pretty. I just love red. And they sing too! Thanks for sharing, Snap and for visiting me.
Blessings, Beth
Your lucky cups are beautiful. What gorgeous color and florals. I really like blue and white china and enjoyed seeing the multi-functional tea set.
Oh, I just love those singing cups. I love the customs of the Chinese, happiness, long life, prosperity. So charming. What a beautiful gift. I hope that Mr. Dragon is recovering nicely. I love your blue and white, and that tablecloth is gorgeous. Teacup Tuesday that is a delightful reason to celebrate.
When I lived in Hong Kong, down in Wan Chi there were many handmade furniture shops. One of them had a tea table. It was a table made for tea ceremonies. I always regret that I didn't purchase that table.
There's always a good time to have tea, Happy first Teacup Tuesday.
karen
These are beautiful teacups. I'd be so afraid I'd break them. A klutz like me MUST use mugs. :)
Oh those red teacups just stole my breath away! Gorgeous!! And the other set is adorable! What a wonderful couple of treasures you have!
I am so glad you shared this with us! I love to learn something new! These teacups are so beautiful! What a special gift.
A few years ago we had an exchange student from S. Korea and his mom sent us tea cups...what a treasured gift!
Wendy
Hi: I have never heard of singing cups. It is amazing what you learn of TT. Your cups are beautiful and that fact that they sing make it that much better. Thank you for sharing and educating us this week. It has been a pleasure to visit your blog. Blessings, Martha
I am learning so much on these tea time visits and your singing lucky cups are something I have never heard of. Your cups are stunning! My son-in-laws' step-mother is from Taiwan and I am going to ask her if she has any of these. I will be looking for them now.
I agree with you about the dearth of artisans , mass production keeps prices affordable and one can really get very nice quality for a decent price, but the cups, and dishware crafted by talented and gifted artisans is worthy of a good price when done so beautifully.
Welcome to your first Teacup Tuesday and thank you for visiting me on my second Teacup Tuesday. (Yes, it's Wednesday, but I'm still making the rounds---SO MANY beautiful blogs to visit, I just can't do it all in one day...nor would I want to really, as taking a couple days, makes the beauty last longer.)
Anyhow your "singing" teacups are beautiful. Thank you for sharing about them.
Have a lovely week,
Patti (Fill My Cup with Beauty)
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