Monday, September 07, 2009

Tea mug


My last handmade one, which only really earned any affection in my eyes by virtue of its longevity, for it was an unlovely thing in chocolate brown with clumsy white slip designs and a pointless bulge which trapped the tannin, cracked and broke a few months ago. I went through too many mass-produced supermarket ones, all of which broke at the handle.



Then on a trip to Josselin at the weekend, we found this one in a craft potter's studio. It is my favourite colour, and I wash and dry it carefully. It drinks very well; I advise putting one's lip to the rim of any mug before buying it; with some, however nice they look, the profile is wrong and drinking from them will never be a pleasure.


Behind the mug in the above picture, is a bamboo chopping board, made from an offcut of a piece of shelving, oiled with olive oil. Holding the chopping boards in place - there are some less pleasing plastic ones behind - is a large granite pebble. It used to be used to hold open silly French windows (as opposed to French windows aka French doors), which always open inward because of the presupposition of shutters, and do not have any means to hook them open.

Woman cannot live by found objects alone, of course, lovely though they are - whoever found a perfect tea mug just lying around on a beach or cut off some larger object in her husband's workroom?


(On the other hand Tom's tea mug was a kind of found object, a freebie from the Folio Society, who inveigled us into joining years ago with the promise of something irresistible, like a brand new edition of Brewer's Phrase and Fable, and have pestered us ever since. It has horrid little maroon medallions on it with 'FS' in them. But Tom loves it because I made the mistake of telling him FS stood for Fantastic Superperson, and the vessel goes on and on, so it seems as of the glaze will actually wear off before it actually breaks.)


Enough, this was supposed to be a ten minute post...



10 comments:

marja-leena said...

Lovely! Handmade pottery mugs are our favourites. Many came from Hornby Island in past trips but on this last one we went too late, after the shops were closed.

Zhoen said...

That one is beautiful, and looks like it would fit hand and lips.


Found is good, but one can't COUNT on finding the right thing at the right time - only be grateful when it does show up.

We have an old copy of Brewer's, a neglected book liberated from a Jr. High library decades ago, and much treasured.

rouchswalwe said...

Very nice crackle glaze! Drinking ale from a handmade pottery mug is particularly delightful in the late summer and early autumn months. I've been known to throw "bring your own mug" ale parties. You and your fantastic superperson are both invited to the next one!

Meggie said...

The colour of that is divine! I have a pet mug for coffee. I have another pet one, for my herb tea.
I dislike having 'pet' anythings, in case they get broken...

HLiza said...

Never thought of self-made mugs..never thought I will make one..looks like i drink hastily..never think how and what pleasure I should get from different mugs..

Lucy said...

Thank you! I thought this was a bit of a silly post but it's surprising how the small details of everyday life can be quite appealing...

ML - Hornby Island mugs, that rings a bell, I think I might have had on when I was small. I shall google it.

z - Actually, the Brewer probably was worth joining for, it was in pre-Internet days and supplies of books were haphazard. It has an intro by Terry Pratchett, where he says reading just one item in Brewer is lke eating a single peanut, practically impossible.

R - oh that would be nice! We've just watched 'Whisky Galore', I imagine your party might be something like that. Perhaps I could persuade him to get a new mug though.

Meggie - it is alovely colour. I know just what you mean about the risk of pet things. In fact we only really have special ones for tea, though we do have two small mugs from the same potter that someone gave us which are just the right size to take the leftover breakfast coffee mid-morning. I think this pottery is quite strong, touchwood.

Hliza - your mugs are probably fine then. We use some standard beige-ish colour things for coffee, which are fine, but again the handles weak when you wash them up. I bought a couple that looked really nice, black with bold blue splodgy flowers on, but the rim is quite the wrong shape and really quite difficult to drink from! I've never made my own pottery, but it's quite nice to meet the person who made something you use, and craft potters tend to mind their own shops.

Unknown said...

I love and understand the idea of mugs drinking well. The use of verbs which are usually transitive in an intransitive mode always warms my heart, like the idea of certain varieties of apples "eating well" and by extension being "good eaters".

Roderick Robinson said...

Oh yes, surely the most intimate domestic artefact other than (forgive the bathos) the lavatory seat. My treasured mug too deserves its fifteen-second blog exposure; out with the digi-cam.

Bee said...

Your joke about Tom's FS mug seems to be sticking with me. I suppose you are both loyal for no reason other than longevity? (to mugs, of course -- no other meaning intended)

What do you call that colour of blue? Is it teal?

Sheila said...

Oh, it is beautiful. I love that color of blue....