Fairylite Foreign Cup of Knowledge Green Plain

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[[File:Fairylite-japan-cup-saucer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Fairylite Foreigh cup and saucer]]
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[[File:Japan-cup-of-knowledge-green.jpg|thumb|300px|right|A Fairylite Foreign cup and saucer copy [[:Category:Made in Japan|made in Japan]]]]
[[File:Fairylite-cup-interior.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Interior of the Fairylite Foreign teacup]]
[[File:Fairylite-cup-interior.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Interior of the Fairylite Foreign teacup]]
[[File:Fairylite-japan-saucer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Fairylite Foreign saucer]]
[[File:Fairylite-japan-saucer.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Fairylite Foreign saucer]]

Revision as of 19:28, 14 February 2021

A Fairylite Foreign cup and saucer copy made in Japan
Interior of the Fairylite Foreign teacup
Fairylite Foreign saucer
Fairylite Foreign backstamp
Original boxed set of Fairylite Foreign cup, saucer, and instruction sheet for tea leaf reading

Fairylite was a British importer of Asian-made novelties during the post World War Two era. They dealt in paper goods, playing cards, toys, and other small gift and game products. Depending on the nature of the merchandise, these items are either marked "Fairylite Foreign" or "Fairylite Empire Made."

Fairylite fortune telling tea cups were made in Japan for export to Great Britain during the 1950s, and the pieces were marked "Foreign," to signify non-English origin. The Cup of Knowledge made by Fairylite was an illegal knock-off or patent infringement of the original Cup of Knowledge pattern from England. Specifically, this cup is a close copy of the Aynsley Mint Green Cup of Knowledge.

Both the Fairlylite Mint Green Cup of Knowledget and the B. Shackman Plain Green Cup of Knowledge were made at the same pottery in Japan and were intended for export. They can be told apart because 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.

Here's how to tell the Fairylite set apart from others:

  • The colour of the Fairylite and B. Shackman 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 Fairylite and and B. Shackman 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 feett of the Fairylite and and B. Shackman cups areamusingly Japanese, in a classic six-petal scallop shape.
  • The handle of the Fairylite and the Shackman cups are a simple Cshape with an inward curl; the Aynsley cup handle is in the more elaborate Doris pattern.

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

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