Unmarked Made in Japan Cup of Knowledge Plain Green

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An unmarked Cup of Knowledge copy made in Japan
This Japan Cup of Knowledge bottom is unmarked; it may have had a foil tag or paper sticker that was lost
This Japan Cup of Knowledge saucer bottom is unmarked; it may have had a foil tag or paper sticker that was lost
Instruction book for this Cup of Knowledge

The Unmarked Green Japanese Cup of Knowledge was made in Japan It is a generic, unauthorized knock-off of the Aynsley Cup of Knowledge. Except for its packaging, it is virtually identical to the green Japanese Fairylite Foreign and B. Shackman cups of the same era. It came with an instruction booklet titled "The Cup of Knowledge: A Fascinating and Exciting Pastime: How to Read the Tea Leaves."

This Japanese Cup pf Knowledge is a cartomancy cup that is, except for its packaging, virtually identical to the Unmarked and B. Shackman cup sets Made in Japan suring the same era. It was manufactured by the same (as yet unidentified) Japanese pottery that manufactured the Fairylite Foreign Cup of Knowledge Plain Green for export to England, with a copy of the Aynsley instruction booklet; the B. Shackman Cup of Knowledge, which was also accompanied by a copy of the Aynsley instruction booklet; and the Unmarked Green Japanese Cup of Knowledge that came with its own different and unique instruction booklet.

If the box and instruction booklet and packaging, are lost and the stickers come off, this set becomes indistinguishable from a B. Shackman Plain Green Cup of Knowledge that has lost its back stickers. It can, however, be distinguished from a Fairylite Foreign Cup of Knowledge, because the Fairylite Foreign mark is a regular underglaze iron-red backstamp.

Here's how to tell the Unmarked Green Japanese Cup of Knowledge set apart from others:

  • Pieces are backstamped "Fairylite Foreign" rather than "Aynsley" or being left with a paper sticker or no backstamp. British law at the time required the "Foreign" backstamp under the glaze, while the United States, where B. Shackman only insisted upon a paper label, and once the label the label was washed off, there was no visible backstamp at all. Thus all of the sets marked "Fairlyite Foreign" went to Great Britain and all of those with paper labels, many of with now present as unmarked, went to the United States.
  • The colour of the B. Shackman, Fairylite, and Unmarked Japanese Green Cup of Knowledge clay body is slightly greyish, typical of Japanese ware, but unlike British bone china, which is a bright white.
  • The quality of the transfers of the B. Shackman, Fairylite, and Unmarked Japanese Green Cup of Knowledge playing cards is muddier than the English originals, with a yellowish tinge inside the cards.
  • Despite the attempt to closely copy a British tea cup shape, the feet of the B. Shackman, Fairylite and Unmarked Japanese Green Cup of Knowledge cups are amusingly Japanese, in a classic six-petal scallop shape.
  • The handle of the B. Shackman, Fairylite and Unmarked Japanese Green Cup of Knowledge cups are a simple C-shape with an inward curl; the Aynsley cup handle is in the more elaborate Doris pattern.
  • Although the B. Shackman, Fairylite and Unmarked Japanese Green Cup of Knowledge sets have metallic gold pin-striping around the cup and saucer rims, the Fairylite has a mustard-yellow pin-line around the center of the saucer. If they were an Aynsley Cup of Knowledge Mint Green|Aynsley Mint Green]] cups, that pin-line would also be gold.


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catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
The Mystic Tea Room

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