Martha and Terri's Tea Cup Tuesday

Many thanks to Martha (http://www.marthasfavorites.com/) and Terri (artfulaffirmations.blogspot.com/)  for sponsoring Tea Cup Tuesday. It's such great fun!   (CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTOS)

Anyone who sips tea from the Japanese Royal Sealy black and gold decorated china cup featured today will feel like royalty.

From its gold colored handle to the gold etchings against a lustre background, this cup is classy and elegant. On both the saucer and inside the smooth inside of the cup there are gold floral designs framed with gold borders. Each of those designs is set inside black background shapes with golden criss-crossed lines, dotted with tiny stars.

The pedestal bottom of the cup is fluted in gold and cream color.

The totally charming aspect of this cup is that the background colors look like the rainbow surface of a giant soap bubble. The colors come to life when the cup is tilted to the light.

Let's peek over the rim of the cup to see the swirled gold designs:

According to one Internet website, Romance Remembered by Cresa, Royal Sealy china is "highly collectible." It's considered an example of vintage porcelain that will increase in value as time goes by. There really is a tiny seal on the very bottom of the saucer.

Considering that I spotted this cup at a yard sale makes its potential value all the more appealing. If my memory serves me correctly, I paid $3.99 for this beautiful cup!

Here's a picture looking down onto the saucer. Duplicate black and gold designs can also be found inside the cup.

Personally, I really don't care that much about its value. I just like looking at it on my teacup rack, occasionally using it to sip in style, and dreaming of what it's like to be a queen. Ha!