H97.101.20

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. A: cup is of porcelain, glazed with an iridescent finish that reflects in blues, pinks, and yellow over white. The sides are molded with six large circles that alternate in color, blue and pink. The center of the pink circles contain a decal in metallic gold of wheat; the blue ones have a decal in gold of a bunch of flowers. Each circle is outlined with a gold stripe; gold also appears in three stripes of varying lengths between the circles, along the lip, and in large areas just below the lip. Three feet made from clay rings are also painted with metallic gold; so is the handle which resembles a ring with a tail. The center of the inside of the cup has a different gold decal of and abstracted flower or 8-pointed star with curvilinera designs and dot decorations. B: saucer is identical to the cup in material and glaze; it also has six alternating pink and blue, wheat and flower, circles with the same gold details and the abstract gold decal in its center. Its edges are scalloped. The bottom is glazed in plain white and has an adhesive label: "69X."

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