Fortune Telling Teacup

I spent most of yesterday sorting through the boxes of things that Auntie Joyce left me. There are so many interesting little bits and pieces - a right old mix. I've put some of them up on eBay including a revolting, terrible, horrible figurine - possibly Staffordshire - of a girl riding a goat. It really is quite tragic.

I'm hanging onto a couple of things, though. I just love this teacup and saucer. It's Paragon fine china and from what I can gather it's from about 1932. It's a beautiful pale blue with slightly raised white clouds and gilding. Inside the teacup there are lots of interesting symbols and the words "Many curious things I see when telling fortunes in your tea".

I assume that the idea was you'd have a cup of tea and afterwards the tea leaves would settle on various symbols, thus telling your fortune. I don't believe in any of that stuff but it's a pretty little item nonetheless. It's quirky. I like it!

Please click here if you'd like to see some more photos of the teacup and saucer.

The Clarice Cliff Quest is moving along really well. I joined the forum at www.claricecliff.co.uk and have had some very helpful responses to my post. It looks like the dinnerware is from 1940 and apparently the pattern name is 'Patricia'. That's slightly uncanny - my Mum's name was Patricia.

I'm off to sort the kitchen cupboards and drawers out now. This moving house lark is a right chore, I can tell you!

Look what I found!

Yesterday's loft clearance went well. My Uncle Matthew came down from Oxford to help and we had the loft totally emptied within three hours. We've also sorted through most of it so Project Loft is moving along nicely.

I did have a bit of a find. Almost ten years ago my Grandma's cousin Joyce died and she kindly left me a share of her crockery, china and glassware in her will. I went along and collected umpteen plates, vases, bowls, cups and saucers and I carefully wrapped them all in newspaper and boxed them up. I made a note on the lid of each box describing its contents and then put them up in the loft.

Yesterday Uncle Matthew handed me a box that said 'Clarice Cliff' on it in my handwriting. Then he handed me another and another. Ten years ago I obviously had no idea who Clarice Cliff was. I mean, I'd heard the name but at the time it didn't register. But now, with a good few years of watching Flog It, Bargain Hunt, Antiques Roadshow and Cash In The Attic behind me I realised that those three boxes could be pretty important!

They contained thirty three pieces of dinnerware in total - six dinner plates, six large side plates, five bread plates (obviously one got broken at some point), six soup bowls and soup bowl saucer things, one large platter, one smaller one, a tureen and lid and a sauce boat. They're marked 'Royal Staffordshire, A J Wilkinson Ltd' and they have the Clarice Cliff stamp on them too. I spent most of last night trawling the internet for information about my find but to no avail. I found one reference on the whole of the web which suggests that that my Clarice crockery is from circa 1930, but apart from that I know nothing about it. I can't even find a name for the design but what I have gathered is that the crockery is not the sought-after 'high end' Clarice Cliff stuff.

Whatever its value, it's a great find and I'm sure I shall be spending lots more time trying to find out more about my Clarice Cliff dinnerware. If anyone out there reading this has any knowledge about it I'd love to hear from you. Please send me an email at laura@beadsbylaura.co.uk with any information you have.