Tasseography Cup & Saucer

Glazed bone china, wider at the mouth than a standard teacup and shallower at the base, holding just under two hundred milliliters, enough for a strong, sediment-heavy brew rather than a delicate afternoon pour. A faint printed key of common symbols rings the interior wall, near invisible until the leaves settle against it. Tea-leaf reading, or tasseography, spread through Britain and Ireland alongside the tea trade itself, practiced most often at the kitchen table rather than a formal parlor. Folklore holds that the shapes left clinging to the sides of the cup after the last swallow, a bird, a ring, a ladder, are read by their position relative to the handle, near meaning soon and far meaning later. The cup is drunk without a strainer, on purpose, so the leaves settle where they will. This set pairs the cup with a matching saucer and a short printed booklet of symbol meanings, glazed in a soft ivory rather than stark white so the settled leaves read with more contrast. The interior symbol key is fired into the glaze rather than printed as a decal, so it will not wear away with years of washing. Brew loose black tea directly in the cup rather than a pot, drink down to the last mouthful, then swirl three times and invert onto the saucer before reading what remains. A gentle, sociable kind of divination, better shared over a full pot than done alone at a desk.