A Little China Lesson Learned

As you may know....I collect tea cups and saucers. Now, I easily have more than can fit in my cupboard so I reserve purchasing to ones I really love (for what ever reason) and ones that are such a good deal that I might put them away for a cup and saucer swap. These two cups are examples of me buying for a bit of both. I really like this shape (corset style) and it is usually made by Aynsley which is a good quality China company and in this neck of the woods, a little hard to come by. So when I see one here for a good price it is quite tempting. Such was the case with each of these cups and saucers they were each around $15 give or take a dollar. (Which is a GOOD price for one of these) But....one had a crack I didn't notice until I got home........and the others I checked over VERY well due to my previous experience. Generally speaking it is a good practice to ping both the cup and saucer to listen if it has a nice ring. (To do this, balance the piece in your open palm, and give the edge a little flick with your finger nail...being careful not to drop it of course) If it doesn't make a nice ring......and instead it has a dull thud....you know to look for a flaw. Today this practice served me well as I came very close to purchasing a cup and saucer with a hairline crack that was almost imperceptible......but it didn't ring right so I knew there was something wrong. When I opted not to buy it, the shop owner put it back on the shelf, which I don't think she should have done. As far as value of china goes.....a hairline crack renders a piece of china worthless......unless you want to use it as a craft project....which is something I have set aside many flawed cups and saucers for. I also keep a few flawed pieces around for using at the kids tea party, so if one should break it would not make me cry. Hopefully the next person to pick up the cup and saucer notices the crack before deciding to buy it! If you expand the photo you can see the crack in the handle of the cup in the front. It's almost at the bottom where it joins the cup.