I've put this little tea or coffee pot set up on Ebay again to see if I can sell it. It's a very decorative piece but basically it's a vintage reproduction Made in Japan as a copy of other vintage or antique tea or coffee services. This has the little classic French medallion of rustic courtesans playing outside and the whole thing is painted in very bright rosy magenta tone and gold splashes of paint making it light up a lot in a cabinet case.
It has six cups and saucers, each cup about 3 inches high and saucer almost 4 inches across. The tea pot or coffee server stands about 7 inches high and the creamer and sugar bowl are equally well proportioned and equally well gilded and painted. There's nothing wrong with this set except it says "For Decorative Use Only" stamped on the bottom in gold print, leading me to think that the paints have metallic or other elements in them that might leach into real coffee and tea. So the set is for decoration only!
It's a shame really as it would be rather nice to have one's coffee served in this over-the-top antique copy coffee service!
At any rate I have partitioned it into two lots and put them up on Ebay for sale. One listing is for the six teacups with saucers and the other is the pot with creamer and sugar bowl. I've written about them in social media before saying these may be useful for crafts purposes or for decorative uses. I'm thinking of the people who make bird feeders out of coffee cups by glueing them to wooden posts or who make artful arrangements of coffee pots into water fountains and things. I suppose I might do something like that myself if I don't sell them first!
Follow up Note: No one wanted this after two years up on Ebay, so I donated it to a thrift shop, hoping someone would find it.
Follow up Note: No one wanted this after two years up on Ebay, so I donated it to a thrift shop, hoping someone would find it.