Topic: Pressed cup & saucer + cameos plastique

[Max]

I bought this item because it looked interesting.  I actually sent it to a member of the GMB to have a look at (post purchase) but didn't receive a reply.  I can only assume they fainted dead away with horror.   

Little clear pressed glass cup with cameos attached to sides.  I assumed the cameos were glass, but no, they are plastique!  (sounds less terrible in French)

The saucer is printed underneath with a similar colour to the cameo. 

I suppose this is some kind of yucky tourist thing, the only saving grace could be if the plastic were something interesting and early.  But I doubt that.     I can't even hazard a guess at country of origin, maybe English? 

Any ideas? 

http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-6706
http://glassgallery.yobunny.org.uk/displayimage.php?pos=-6705

<waves smelling salts under viewers noses>

[josordoni]

Gosh Max, that's certainly....errr.......interesting.......

[Cathy B]

Fuzzy ebay pics strike again! It looks very Avonesque, doesn't it. It's probably not a special plastic either, but you might as well try the tests for bakelite, which are to dip it in hot water, or rub briskly with your fingers and then sniff - if it smells of formaldehyde, then it's bakelite. Somehow I doubt it. If you use boiling water however, it might solve the problem of what to do with it.

[Frank]

I wouldn't be so quick to knock it. OK, it is not Harrod's quality and you would not have to pay 200 pounds per cup and saucer set... But you certainbly have an above average example of its genre. Is the saucer screen printed or transfer?

[Max]

No formaldehyde smell Cathy...doesn't smell of anything at all really.    The saucer pattern is very flat indeed, so I'm thinking maybe screenprinted?  It's a bizarre selection of processes all together isn't it?   

If it had been glass cameos on the sides of the cup and a kind of cameo cut saucer (that's what the photo looked like...lol), then I'd have been quite chuffed.

...wonder if it IS Avon?  Seems a lot of trouble to go to, for a little cup & saucer to be honest! 

<gives a quick glare at Lynne  >

[josordoni]

 

[Frank]

It is an Icon of twentieth century design and production for the masses. In my opinion very worth hanging onto and researching until the puzzles are solved...

[Max]

Thanks Frank.  I might as well hang onto it, I don't see many other options.    Thanks for being kind about it.   

[Frank]

I was not being kind and fashions change, 20 years ago people treated bricklayer vases as something best returned to nature... now look at the prices they fetch, you can even get copies to try and replace the thousands thrown away. While I doubt yours is earlier than 1960's and more will turn up, I bet they have a similar rarity to the bricklayers 

[Chris Harrison]

Max, since this is a small item, I suspect it's part of a high-class kiddies' tea set.

The Plastic Art Toy Corp. of America, Carlstadt, NJ made quite a few such sets in imitation of items seen on the silver screen.  A classic was a plastic replica Wedgwood blue jasper set of the Mad Hatter's tea party - made in the 1950s (though yours looks more modern). The Mad Hatter set had a Wedgwood type cameo picture of all the main characters, rather like yours.  Later, this kind of item was made in Japan and elsewhere, and the products became simpler and less "classy", becoming all one piece without the contrasting inserts.

Isn't it ridiculous the arcane bits of knowledge that you pick up and retain against all the odds... 

I'm with Frank on this.  I'd keep it (and look for more pieces!).