Tasseography is the art of tea leaf reading, a form of fortune telling. This cup features a wide assortment of shapes and symbols within the cup, such as an owl, snake, dagger, arrow, frog, and fan. Each symbol can be interpreted to have special meaning. The designs offer a visual cue of the shapes that might appear in the brewed tea leaves. The saucer has the twelve symbols of the Chinese zodiac, each associated with an animal such as the dragon, the rabbit, the snake, etc.
Alas, I don't have experience in reading tea leaves, or foretelling the future. I simply enjoy collecting this style of tea cup, and have a wide variety of different fortune telling cups. Although there are no markings on the bottom of the cup, the saucer is marked Canonsburg Pottery Co. Made in the U.S.A. C-Genevieve Wimsatt.
6 comments:
Just had to tell you - Canonsbug, PA.is just two miles from where I was born in Houston, PA. Canonsburg is also the birthplace of Perry Como. It is about 30 miles south of Pittsburgh.
Such an unusual cup. I love you vintage papers in the background.
Lady Linda
I love it. I have one leaf reading cup I found several years ago in Kansas, it is my sons cup when he shares tea with me. I like this even better. Now I will be on the look out.
Genevieve Wimsatt traveled to China in the 1920s and studied poetic stories and wrote books on shadow puppets. She patented this fortune telling cup when she returned. I have one and love it. Evidently they are quite dear among collectors.
Would also like to find a 'key' to reading it. Maybe someday.....
A key to Genevieve's cup can be found here, which includes the patent she filed in 1929. Every single symbol is described! http://www.freepatentsonline.com/1729235.pdf
Hello there
I have been lucky enough to find a fortune telling cup too but unfortunately without the booklet that accompanies it! I was wondering if it would be too much bother to ask if you have any photos of the booklet? No worries if not, it's such a beautiful piece
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