Silver egg cups are certainly known from Roman times as one was found in the excavation of Pompeii which was preserved when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Another silver pair from the same period were sold at Christie’s in 2012.
Many websites talk about the silver egg cup in Elizabethan times and whilst sources may indeed mention them I know of no surviving silver egg cups from that period ( if anyone knows to the contrary please let me know ) .In my experience the earliest English silver egg cup is one of 1767 by Charles Aldridge and Henry Green of London and I have discussed this with quite a few collectors(Pocillovists is the official term of the egg cup collector !)and they come to a similar conclusion. The sides of this egg cup which were almost certainly part of a larger set were pierced in a gothic style arrangement.
Egg cups were often made in sets of four and sometimes six (and occasionally other quantities) and fitted into a stand. These are known as egg cruets and were popular from the 1790s right up to the early twentieth century. Sometimes they are made with an integral salt cellar or perhaps a pair of peppers to the side. Some cruets have fittings to place the egg spoons others don’t – there is no hard and fast rule with the egg cruet. During the nineteenth century they became quite popular christening gifts, and a single egg cup makes a nice present.
At William Walter Antiques we have a fine selection of egg cruets and singles for sale including an extensive selection of egg spoons, please enquire.
