Cup of Knowledge, Complete Set. C. 1924-25

Description

J&B Dodsworth Printers, 1924. Square 12mo, illustrated card stapled wrappers. Illustrated title page with diagrams throughout. Spine partially split, front wrapper chipped missing lower fore edge. Fair condition.

Cup and saucer both in good condition, though upon inspection it appears each is from a different model of Aynsley Cup of Knowledge, the Baroque Rose, and Rose Garland models, specifically.

 

 

Aynsley China, founded in 1775, had been making bone china for more than a century when in 1905, they moved into fortune telling. From 1905-1925, this first version of the Cup of Knowledge– covered in hand-painted playing cards– was a popular item in its day, an amusing novelty for some and a spiritual tool for others. During the 1924-1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Park in London, Cups of Knowledge were available as souvenirs both for the exhibition itself and for the Australia pavilion. Aynsley would later go on to produce the “Nelros” Cup of Knowledge, its motifs inspired not by cards but by astrology.

Tea leaf reading, more formally known as Tasseography or Tasseomancy, was brought to England by the Romany or “Gypsy” people in the mid-1700s, quickly becoming a fashionable social activity, especially with wealthy ladies after high tea.

Unstrained loose tea, without milk, is poured into the cup, the contents mostly drunk except for the last sip. Then the saucer is placed on top of the cup, the two are shaken, and the teacup is set back in its place in order for the arrangement of leaves along its interior to be inspected.

As this is a somewhat hazardous process for delicate china, complete sets are rare and even rarer with the accompanying instruction book.