H97.101.8

The cups and saucers in this collection come from Della's Tea Cup Cafe, 7309 MacArthur Boulevard, Oakland, which was established in February, 1967. The cafe is noted for, and decorated with, a very large collection of tea cups. Some of the cups were purchased by the owner, others were presented to her as gifts, while still others were made for her. This drinking cup is a mug with three handles, each molded with two grooves. It is of earthenware, glazed in yellow on the lower half of the body and the handles. Along the lip of the mug, on the inside, is a pale green stripe; there are also two brown stripes along the top and bottom of the decorated portion, which is a decal of an alpine village. The bottom has a manufacturer's mark for Royal Bayreuth, Bavaria with two lions on either side of a helmet. Printed at the bottom: "Priv. 1794." The donor remarked, "In olden days, they had what they called a water bucket,... You take a pail and you'd drink from the same dipper; they didn't have all these styrafoam cups... [You could sit] around the table, people would use different handles. It's a really odd cup."

Used: Della's Tea Cup Cafe | Della Hardmon Guess | African American | Drinking | Lynn Neighborhood