Fortune Teller Cup and Saucer (Knobler)
From Mystic Tea Room
The New Jersey importer Alfred E. Knobler brought to America a heavy, awkwardly painted, dull-coloured copy of the Jon Anton Taltos cup, itself an awkwardly rectininear derivative of the graveful Nelros cup of Fortune designed by Nevil Ross in 1904 and manufactured by Aynsley China.
Knobler's cup and saucer set was Made in Japan in the 1970s or 1980s, and in addition to regular retail sales, some were sold in Salem Massachusetts in connection with the Salem Witchcraft Museum. Knobler had no backstamp, only a sticker. If the cup and saucer were washed, off came the sticker. Identifiable by the greyish porcelain clay body and the blue lettering.
On the box it is identified as a "Fortune Teller Cup and Saucer" but on its instruction sheet is is a "Fortune Teller's Cup and Saucer."
DIV-TLR-XXXX
catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
The Mystic Tea Room
