Fairylite Foreign Cup of Knowledge Green Plain

From Mystic Tea Room

Revision as of 21:46, 14 February 2021 by Catherine Yronwode (Talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search
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 Japanese maker of porcelain for export to Great Britain, and the pieces were marked "foreign," to signify non-English origin. The Cup of Knowledge made by Fairylight was an illegal knock-off or patent infringement of the original pattern from England. Specifically, this cup is a close copy of the Aynsley Cup of Knowledge Mint Green.

Here's how to tell them apart:

  • The colour of the Fairylite 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 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 foot of the Fairylite cup is amusingly Japanese, in a six-petal scallop shape.
  • The Fairylite Mint Green Cup of Knowledge has a mustard-yellow pin-line around the center of the saucer. If it were an Aynsley cup, that pin-line would be gold.

DIV-TLR-JFMG


THIS IS A PATREON PAGE

From the Land of Tea, Installment #2

For a small monthly donation, my Patrons gain exclusive early access to this page in its entirety, with high-res graphics and full commentary. Patreon subscribers also have access to my Private Patreon Forum, where we can discuss my research projects on the topics of divination, folklore, and magic. After one year, this page will go public.

  • Patreon Date: February 14, 2021.
  • Public Date: February 14, 2022.


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

See Also

Personal tools