Graham and I stopped into my favorite antique and vintage shop over the weekend, and these little cups caught my eye:
I bought them and brought them home, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out what they’re meant to be used for. Are they sake cups? Maybe they’re for sugar? I don’t know! They’re Nippon, based on the maker’s mark.
But a quick Google search doesn’t turn up this pattern, so who knows? Regardless, I just think they’re neat. And different, given their shape, pattern, and colors, than anything else I have in my china collection. So, overall, a pretty cool find.
A Virginia Writer's Diary 
They are beautiful, and indeed, unique. I would suspect rice bowls, and I thought the Nippon mark was pre WWII, but I may misremember.
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Looking at your comment, I realized I misread the article I found about Nippon, so if they’re genuine, you’re probably right about the date. They look bigger in the pictures than they are in person, but rice bowls is a good guess! I’m going to keep digging and see what I can find.
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Still pretty cool looking. 🙂
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Yep! I want to go back and see if I can find any matching pieces. They were sort of tucked away, so it’s possible I might have missed it if there were others.
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I know of similar objects as Japanese export goods for Salt & Pepper. But yours are probably too big for it. In any case, they are very beautiful!
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Thanks! 🙂 They look bigger in the picture than they actually are. I could definitely see them being used for salt and pepper!
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I love cute dishes and always loved collecting. I believe the Nippon “M” in the wreath was 1911-1921 production. I’m thinking dipping bowls for salt, sauce, or water (to clean finger tips?). The design of playing cards throws me, though, I quickly searched nippon playing cards and found nippon card designs for humidors and ashtrays only. But I did come upon this, which is a match to the shape of yours but not the pattern. Not sure if I paste link, it will work for you but will try!
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1165951129/antique-rising-sun-hand-painted-nippon-2?click_key=03bdd3b87feff20784e51b64983f13ffc5e2826b%3A1165951129&click_sum=943132f5&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=rising+sun+nippon&ref=sr_gallery-1-10
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I bet that’s what they are! I can’t believe I didn’t think of that. How cool! The link worked and was helpful (and now I want to buy that one, too). The pattern throws me, as well. I can’t find it, which makes me think these might be copies and not genuine, but they’re neat, nonetheless.
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