Espresso Cups

Blue and white is always a good combination

I have always liked cafés and then coffee. Since high school I have watched the café scene in Prague change and evolve. In the last few years there has been a lot of emphasis on the quality of the coffee itself. This post though is about coffee cups.

The epitome of bourgeois taste- flowers, gold and a nice round shape ,all done by hand.

Ever since I got a coffee machine I started a new collection of coffee cups, they are sometimes referred to as šapo perhaps from the French chapeau indicating the shape of the first cups or mocca cups in Czech. Almost all my cups were originally part of whole coffee sets which were broken over time and eventually dispersed. They are most often found in antique and charity shops and accompanied by random pieces from the original ensemble. I tend to steer clear of high end antique shops which partly specialize in selling these as collector’s items for display as I have a strict rule of using all of mine.

Again flowers imposed on a historical form.

 Drinking from a different cup everyday gives me welcome variety and is also a responsible way to give old objects a new lease on life. Because these pieces of china are often vintage at the least, they cannot be put into a dishwasher making them undesirable to most but also relatively affordable.

This cup has an interesting detail inside.

As I only drink small strong espressos they are generally small cups that can hold a maximum of 120ml liquid. Most of them are much smaller though and quite dainty, some just big enough for a ristretto. The cups I drink from are mostly of local origin as production of such delicate items has only recently resumed but on a far smaller scale. I doubt that porcelain production will ever again be such a strong industry as it was in the interwar period and under communism. This might also be due to a change in lifestyle as few people want coffee sets for their wedding or have a place of pride in their homes for such things.

Just big enough for a ristretto.

Art nouveau revival allegedly  by Jaroslav Ježek

Most of the cups I use date from the early 20^th century to the 1980’s.Almost all were mass produced but a few are hand painted or were made by a renowned designer. Some are also from very thin porcelain making them not only delicate but almost disposable and that is why I tend to try to buy more than one if available. 

The decoration on the cups varies tremendously from geometric patterns to art nouveau stylizations but I am always amused by the pieces that were made from the approximately the 60’s-80’s which reference historical styles albeit with an element of the period. Many therefore have shapes popular in the Biedermeier period or stylized decorations taken from folk art .The result are always an effort of middleclass aspiration in porcelain.

A very gay one

 It was in the 19^th century with the economic growth of the middle classes that the production of items such as these cups too off in this part of Europe. Since I started buying these small objects I have noticed two very prominent characteristics that have been used by porcelain decorators in all periods, the first is the use of gold to decorate the cups, and they are often completely golden or at least have a gold painted handle or inner band. My guess is that gold for many in some unconscious way elevates the item to a festive one.

I am not sure this cup was ever meant for drinking.

Another prevalent characteristic is the use of flowers and floral motives in decoration not only these cups but porcelain in general. I have seen birds, animals and sometimes towns depicted but never a car for example. Given that porcelain cups were most often bought by and for women I think that florals are a sensible choice.

      

This piece has a beautiful  hand painted  detail of Prague.

I have banned Czech pink porcelain but otherwise in the same way I choose a tie or socks for my day, I choose my espresso cup.

Blue Onion Cibulák Porcelain

 A contemporary Meissen original

Image courtesy of www.meissen.com

This year in Spring I was entrusted with buying some typically Czech souvenirs for a trip abroad, we have all been in this situation .After ruling out Becherovka,Carlsbad wafers  and Bohemia crystal which  I had bought previously  I was left with porcelain. At first I was not sure what kind of local porcelain I should get given that the present was for a young couple, but after a chance visit to Bistro 19 in the Old Town I saw what could fit the bill. The restaurant sells a new modern take on classical Czech cibulák or zwiebelmuster porcelain.

 The pattern which is a stylized rococo interpretation of the Chinese original depicts pomegranates, peaches, asters, peonies and bamboo. I personally would never have guessed, no wonder it is mistakenly called the onion pattern.

Initially hand painted only on Meissen porcelain which is still the case today, although most Czechs view it an original Czech invention, the pattern was adopted in Bohemia in the mid 19^th century. Production   started at the end of the 19^th century in Dubí  a small community on the border with Germany which has recently become better known for its  assortment of "ladies" rather than as  the centre of production  of  this epitome of middleclass respectability. Thanks to a simplified mechanical production process Onion Blue china became accessible to people who would hardly have been able to afford the Meissen original but still wanted to have a decent looking plate on their Sunday table. Production flourished in the new Czechoslovakia but was interrupted by the Second World War and industrial developments in the 1950’s.

A 19^th century Bohemian example

Image courtesy of www.aron-antik.cz

By the 60’s  the factory was back in business  just as the Czechoslovak baby boomer  brides  were starting to get married and needed suitable trousseaus  for their big day. My own mother logged this gracious porcelain half way across the world after my parents tied the knot.

          

Velčovský’s facial tattoos

Image courtesy of  www.prague-art.cz

While one can look at both these objects and laugh they also have a more sarcastic interpretation, the vase in the form of wellies was often worn under communism by the asp rational collective farmers who saw cibulák as a status symbol. By further splashing the pattern on Stalin’s face he simply tried to maybe elevate him to a Czech favourite, the result is definitely interesting. Maxim Velčovský is known for taking everyday disposable items such as plastic cups and reproducing them as crystal wine glasses or turning dolls heads into candle sticks. It is not surprise then that he has used the “white gold” of the 18^th century as a subversive material.

Waterproof Onion 2001

Image courtesy of  www.qubus.cz

More recently Jiří Pelcl updated the Onion Blue pattern in a more “official” way while working with Bohemia Porcelain in Dubí  . He was asked to create a contemporary kind of  cibulák which would appeal to  a young  audience.

What I am eyeing next

Image courtesy of  www.facebook.com/tosemilibiaprotototadyje

   With a line called Bohemia Cobalt ,Pelcl came up with completely new shapes from salad bowls to sugar spoons. Most importantly he abstracted the pattern making it minimal, unconstructive and interesting. Crucially, he also succeeded in creating china which is not just for display but rather for everyday use. Purity of form and pattern are key. His creation stands in stark contrast to the recent other new takes on the old classic which the company sells.

My little shopping trip ended with a tea set and medium size bowl both of which were well received and I came off with a cup for myself just big enough for a small Sunday espresso

My  koflíček