An odd thing about me, and I have spoken about this before, is that I love mugs. An excellent mug will stop me dead in my tracks. This is something you can gift me for my birthday or Christmas and I would be delighted. I don’t even have space for any more mugs – even though I recently bought some from PEP Home (South Africans will know) that I really love. They are the PERFECT size, and also stackable: a feature that I covet in a mug.
This obviously stems from my daily coffee habit – so, I have a specific size mug I use in the morning for that first important cup. It has to be big, but not TOO big that the coffee gets cold quickly (you know?) and then in the afternoon I have a slightly smaller mug that I prefer to use for my flat white. It’s all very considered, and if someone makes me a cup of coffee or tea and puts it in the wrong size or shape mug I will stew over it (internally) and sometimes discreetly pour it over into the correct mug because I actually can’t take another sip.
It’s slightly embarrassing to admit this and possibly a therapist would have a field day over these ADHD mug tendencies, but if you like mugs as much as me then here are some great ones!
Arhoj
Arhoj probably makes some of the most fun mugs and cups at the moment, they have a bunch of sizes and shapes and the colour range alone is enough to get you drooling (banana leaf! punk blonde!). Their Chug Mug is the perfect vessel – Anton got me the Spearmint one for my birthday, the shape of the handle is pleasing and it’s lovely to hold (you can get them locally at Shelflife).
Egg on a mug, egg in a mug
I took one look at these egg mugs and was like “yes.” this speaks to me on all levels. also, I was listening to Dish this morning (most comforting podcast in the world) with their latest guest Joanna Lumley and when she was asked about her favourite way to eat eggs she said – “boiled, but cracked and then taken out and put into a cup and stonked around with a bit of butter and salt and pepper.” This is exactly how i eat my boiled eggs, and honestly this egg mug would be perfect for it.
Paprika as a colour
I’ve never been one for any homeware that is red, but when things are made in a specific vermillion shade (the perfect balance of an orangey red) then I’m into it – notably drawn to these everyday mugs by Tellefsen Atelier in “paprika”, but the other colours and shapes are wonderful too.
hey, HAY
My friend has a collection of the HAY borosilicate mugs and they are also a wonderful everyday drink receptacle. I particularly love the green ones, but they come in a bunch of other colours. (also available locally at Shelflife just FYI). Their Barro cup is new to me, but possibly even cooler tbh. and their French Press is also extremely nice.
Renee’s Ceramics
I’ve had a few outings with the kids lately where you go paint a mug or a bowl or some kind of ridiculous statue, and then 6 weeks later you pick up your handicraft and marvel at how… average they look. Just makes you appreciate people who actually do this for a living – and do it well, at that. Renee is from Taiwan and she makes these beautiful mugs that look hand painted BUT the colours are actually within the clay. She explains, “I wedged the colors into clay first, then I created pattern slabs by using color clay, and shaped them into mugs.” wow. she sells them on Etsy. I love them!
one of each, please.
You are spoilt for choice when it comes to mug shape and designs over at Danica Studio, a Vancouver based creative team whose designs are all hand drawn (love that). I think their Imprint range is my favourite, but I would be happy opening my cupboard and seeing any of these mugs greet me in the morning.
Hellerware to the Max
I genuinely feel like we had a set of these once in the 80s, or possibly a knock off – because the iconic Max collection has been going since 1964. Originally designed by Lella and Massimo Vignelli (who were also responsible for the design of the famous NYC subway map, amongst many other brilliant things), the range was brought back to life by Hellerware after the original went out of production.
Helen Levi
I have been sharing Helen Levi’s works for over a decade and her mugs & cups (and all other things) are still as splendid as ever – I particularly love the serpent mug and the mini mugs made me smile, “A barely functional, highly adorable tiny mug. This mug is glazed on the inside so it will hold liquid; however it would be best suited holding 10 teardrops, or a drink for a pet hamster, or a fairy’s brew. It’s really, really small.”
