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Tiffany Sterling Cup?

post #1 of 11
1/25/11 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
I found in an antique shop a very small cup of sterling silver and no handle. It's a thick sterling and has what appear to be the correct Tiffany markings on the bottom - saying "Tiffany Makers" etc. and with a number.
I'm wondering what this cup might originally have been intended for. It looks like some of the older Tiffany "Baby Cups" I see on eBay and elsewhere on the web, but without a handle. No sign there was a handle, either.
Any idea what this cup was designed for? I didn't buy it yet and can't supply a photo, but let's just say the cup is basically a cup-shaped bowl and very small - perfect size for my earplugs on my nightstand. No sign of a handle missing, either.
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post #2 of 11
1/25/11 at 4:08pm
I like the antique Tiffany mint julip cups. I use them for short stem roses and cocktails.
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post #3 of 11
1/25/11 at 10:16pm
shot glass for the big-tymers?
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post #4 of 11
1/27/11 at 12:12am
It's almost certainly a christening mug.
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post #5 of 11
1/27/11 at 12:18am
To elaborate: they're (usually silver) cups given to babies as gifts to celebrate christenings. Random silver crap is traditionally given to babies; I have several of these mugs. I know that this isn't common among American protestants, though; Episcopalians do it, and maybe Catholics, although I'm not sure. Receiving silver knick knacks is the origin of the phrase "born with a silver spoon in his/her mouth". It's pretty common for them to be engraved, and for the recipient to use them to hold little random things like matches (or earplugs, I guess). It'd be weird to keep around a christening mug that isn't yours, but no weirder than some people's habits of buying unearned antique sporting trophies...
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post #6 of 11
1/27/11 at 12:50am
Given how pliable their metal is I think you might want to choose another option to cover your balls during the softball game.
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post #7 of 11
1/27/11 at 1:43pm
Thread Starter 
Idea is for nighttime earplugs in bedroom.
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post #8 of 11
1/27/11 at 1:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rambo View Post
Given how pliable their metal is I think you might want to choose another option to cover your balls during the softball game.

hahahahahahaha
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post #9 of 11
1/27/11 at 1:46pm
Two girls?
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post #10 of 11
1/27/11 at 9:53pm
Thread Starter 
The christening cups I've seen on the web are decorative. The one in the antique shop has no ornament of any kind. Just the Tiffany hallmarks on the bottom. And no handle.
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post #11 of 11
1/31/11 at 3:58pm
Thread Starter 
When I went back to the antique shop Saturday I found the image I had in my head - of heavy silver and Arts and Crafts - was inaccurate. The face the item was unpolished helped to make it look more vintage, for one thing. Anyway, I did purchase the Tiffany piece and it is one of these.
Marked "Tiffany & Co. Makers Sterling 25005," the piece turns out to be a shot glass specifally called by Tiffany a "Cordial Cup." I'm trying to find the approx. age.

Even though the piece is Tiffany sterling there are tiny discolorations I can't remove with polish. As this is real sterling, how to these spots come to occur over time? Inside of these cups is said to be, in references on the 'net, a "gold wash." My small cup looks silvery inside. Wonder if the wash came off or if some were made without the wash. I'd prefer to think the latter.
Great for my intended use - nightstand earplugs.
LL
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