How To Collect And Care For
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Many collectors purchase the antiques to use for decoration around the home.
Some use them as a place for jewelry on an armoire. Or as a new location for a candle.
What is old is new again. This is the main phrase to remember when collecting vintage tea cups.
When browsing for tea cups the majority of styles you will find will be porcelain and china.
If you are unsure of the difference between the two, keep the following in mind:
- Porcelain: A type of pottery that is fired in a kiln and then glazed. Afterwards, it is then fired again, which creates a very delicate result.
The designs on porcelain tea cups are typically very elaborate. They can still being dainty at the same time.
- China: There are several types of china.
Bone china is typically the most expensive because it is the strongest.
The process of making bone china is very similar to porcelain.
However, bone that is finely ground is added to the clay prior to being fired. Bone china is always very white.
Fine china is also strong, but it is usually strengthened with special ingredients. Casual china could also be mentioned when discovering tea cups.
However, it is neither bone nor fine. It is usually an earthenware piece and it is typically much heavier.
Types To Collect
The type of tea cups you decide to collect are completely up to you.
While it may seem as if a tea cup is designed to look decorative, many of the design elements are there for a reason.
For example, a tea cup that has the pedestal shaped bottom, or as some refer to as the "foot".
It is designed so that it will fit into the saucer that is indented with the same circular shape. This helps prevent the cup from sliding around.
Another style of cup you might come across is a tea cup with a flat bottom. Like the pedestal tea cups they usually have a matching saucer as well.
Caring For The Tea Cup
Tea cups require much more care than your regular coffee mugs or cups in your cupboards.
The reason being that the china or porcelain can chip with just the slightest knock against one another.
It is very important that you do not stack your tea cups if at all possible.
If you do be sure that you do not stack more than two cups at a time.
When storing the cups in boxes to preserve them, be sure to place soft cloths in between each cup.
This will help protect them in case they do get knocked around by accident.
If you plan on displaying your cups, locate them in an area of your home where they will be out of direct sunlight.
It is also best to wash them twice a year. More if you have the time. It is also nice to rotate other cups into the spots once in a while to have a nice variety.
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