The Collector: Irv Tepper, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Artist/Professor of Fine Art and Industrial Design at the Pratt Institute, New York.

The Collection: I collect restaurant/coffee shop coffee cups, mostly American. Heavy cups and mugs made for diners up to year 1970. In addition to the anonymous mugs, I also collect cups designed by designers and architects.

The story behind the collection...

I started collecting heavy restaurant ware cups/mugs while in college. I was interested in the anonymous designers and wondered how they arrived at the various shapes that were mass-produced. I also wondered why the same shape would be produced by a number of different manufacturers. I am interested in the typologies and the subtle differences within the types like the handle placement, the width and number of bands surrounding the cup, the way the foot of the cup joins the surface of the table.

Of all the various pieces of dinnerware, the cup is the most intimate. It is held in the hands often in contemplation and thought. Sometimes it is a conduit and excuse to have conversation... the cup hears it all.

I have been collecting coffee cups off and on beginning in 1969 and I have almost 500. At present they are not all on display. I used to have a wall of shelves hung at different levels and various lengths. Each typology manufactured by different manufactures was placed on their own shelf. The length of the shelf was determined by how many cups I had of each shape.

 My collection has evolved over the years. My most cherished pieces are the ones that are hand painted personalized mugs. The cup with the painting of a woman in a dress holding a lunch pail with the name “Bernice” above it is probably my favorite. My greatest find was locating the artist that painted it over 45 years ago.

What’s still missing from my current collection? The mug that will surprise me.

Is my collection out of control and I do consider myself to be ‘obsessed’... Yes.

See more of Irvin Tepper's own website (including his coffee cup sculptures) here and on Flickr.

Images ©  Ann Harithas and the Nave Museum, Victoria, Texas and used with the kind permission of Irvin Tepper.