#Egg #Cups #Theyre #Cracked #WorthPoint
During a recent stay at a small turn-of-the-century inn, I was delighted to see the morning’s breakfast table set with beautiful antique china and several pretty little egg cups.
Though I opted for waffles, I enjoyed watching a few other guests gingerly crack open their soft-boiled eggs nestled in the cups and dip toast strips (or soldiers, as the Brits call them) into the liquidy golden yolk and scoop the rest out with small spoons. It looked like such a luxurious way to eat some morning protein.
ADDING A LITTLE EGG-STRA FUN TO BREAKFAST
Egg cups are one of those antiques you can easily forget about (or maybe not even know about) until you see one and are reminded of how appealing they are.
Egg cup collectors already know this and even have a special word for their hobby: pocillovy, deriving from the Latin words pocillium (little cup) and ovi (egg). A collector is a pocillovist.
These little dishes hold the egg upright, and when you cut the top off, you get the perfect yolky dipper for toast. You don’t need an egg cup to eat an egg, of course, but owning and using one can elegantly elevate a humble soft-boiled egg—and your experience eating it. There is an art to this, and while a knife is generally used to lop off the top, that task can be made easier with an egg cutter/topper.
Classy and affordable, egg cups can be found in various designs and materials. If you don’t eat eggs, though, they can serve candies, desserts, and nuts, showcase decorated Easter eggs and fancy molded chocolate eggs, hold tealight candles and small jewelry pieces, and grow herbs. Or they can simply be displayed on a mantle, shelf, or table and just sit there, looking charming.
AN EGG-STRAVAGANT HISTORY
Egg cups may no longer be a lavish item only for the wealthy and elite, but they hold centuries of casual opulence. The oldest known egg cup, a silver one, was found in the ashy ruins of Pompeii in 79 AD. Turkish mosaics in the city also showed scenes of people using them.
They weren’t paid much attention to in the Middle Ages but surged in popularity centuries later in Elizabethan England. At that time, aristocrats ate eggs in ornate silver egg cups while the commoners used plain wooden ones. In 17th- and 18th-century France, King Louis XV regularly used extravagant examples similar to this one during his meals and often entertained his court by “beheading” the egg with one slice. (An ironic omen of his grandson, King Louis XVI, being executed by guillotine.)
The Victorians’ love of kitchen accessories led to egg cups being mass-produced and regularly offered with dinnerware services during the 19th century. Companies, including Haviland and Wedgwood, produced and decorated them in the same styles as their popular china patterns. Multiple egg cups were also sold as egg cruet sets, with matching spoons and stands. These rare sets are hard to find and valuable today.
The traditional kitchen staple overseas caught on in America at the turn of the century, though Abraham Lincoln was reportedly ahead of the curve and enjoyed an egg in a cup for breakfast.
They became incredibly trendy during the art deco period when decorative arts designers like Clarice Cliff and Susie Cooper helped usher in that movement with their new and inspired designs, colors, patterns, and dinnerware shapes, including egg cups. The U.S. military also used them.
Double egg cups became popular in the 1930s. These have a smaller end for serving a boiled egg and a larger end for serving a chopped one.
American manufacturers that made egg cups through the mid-century that are popularly collected today include Fanny Farmer, Gladding, McBean & Co., Lenox, Tiffany & Co., Vernon Kilns, and Westmoreland.
DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT YOLKS
Egg cups cover many historical eras and design styles and come in various materials, including Bakelite, china, glass, plastic, porcelain, pottery, silver and other metals, and wood. Collectors prize wooden examples for their elegantly turned shapes, highlighting the wood’s natural beauty. China and porcelain cups are often hand-decorated (or cheaper decal-decorated) with flowers and fruits. Pressed glass cups in transparent colors or marble-like “slag” can have molded-in patterns or be figural forms like bunnies, ducks, hens, people, and roosters. Novelty examples for children feature animals, buildings, toy trains, fairy tale and nursery rhyme motifs, and famous characters like Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, and Snow White.
Collecting egg cups is a reasonably priced hobby. They can often be found at antique shops, flea markets, thrift stores, and e-commerce sites like eBay and Etsy for under $10. But some examples sell for hundreds and even tens of thousands. Egg cruet sets can also cost thousands. As with almost every collectible, age, condition, maker, and rarity determine the value of an egg cup.
A helpful resource for collectors is Brenda C. Blake’s Egg Cups: An Illustrated History and Price Guide, which gives extensive details on thousands of examples found worldwide. Though the book is out of print, it can be found on the secondary market and in WorthPoint’s Library.
There’s also an active collectors’ group on Facebook, whose members enjoy sharing their egg cup treasures and knowledge of the hobby.
If you’d like to elevate a simple breakfast into a more luxurious experience, your pocillovy adventure awaits, and you’re sure to find a special egg cup (or more) that will make you crack a smile.
Adina K. Francis has been a writer and editor in the antiques and collectibles field for more than 20 years. She has a bit of an obsession with the Victorians and thinks that dogs are one of life’s greatest gifts.
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