{"product_id":"studio-pottery-mug-with-applied-tea-bag-pocket-crackle-white-glaze-and-hand-painted-orchid-sprays-wheel-thrown-and-altered","title":"Studio Pottery Mug with Applied Tea-Bag Pocket, Crackle White Glaze and Hand-Painted Orchid Sprays, Wheel-Thrown and Altered","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA hand-made mug with a \u003cstrong\u003esmall pocket applied to the outside\u003c\/strong\u003e, sized for a used tea bag.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe body is thrown as a full round belly on a small foot, then \u003cstrong\u003ealtered while soft\u003c\/strong\u003e — the front wall pressed inward so the profile is squared rather than circular, and the rim left with a gentle lift rather than a level line.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003epocket is a separate slab\u003c\/strong\u003e, wrapped onto the side and open at the top, deep enough to take a bag and leave the tag showing.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe \u003cstrong\u003ehandle is a thick rolled loop\u003c\/strong\u003e with a curled terminal, and a small pinched leaf applied at the upper join where a thumb naturally lands.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe glaze is a soft white with a \u003cstrong\u003efine crackle net over the whole surface\u003c\/strong\u003e. Over it, freehand: \u003cstrong\u003egreen blade-like strokes springing in loose groups\u003c\/strong\u003e, with small red and orange dots scattered among them. The interior is plain white.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe pocket exists because of a real and very small problem.\u003c\/strong\u003e A tea bag has to go somewhere between the second and third cup, and the options are a saucer you then have to wash, the sink, or the rim of the mug where it slides off. Putting a pocket on the mug itself is the kind of solution studio potters arrive at and factories almost never do, because it costs a second forming operation for a benefit that does not photograph.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe crackle is intentional, and it is a controlled failure.\u003c\/strong\u003e Glaze and clay body shrink at slightly different rates as the kiln cools; if the glaze shrinks more, it goes into tension and relieves it by opening in a fine net of lines. Potters spent centuries learning to prevent that — a crazed glaze on a working pot was a defect — and then spent centuries more deliberately mismatching the two so it would happen on purpose, because the net is beautiful and because it makes a white glaze read as depth rather than as paint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe painting is in a very old brush idiom.\u003c\/strong\u003e Those grouped blades with their small flowering dots are the orchid, one of the \u003cem\u003eFour Gentlemen\u003c\/em\u003e of East Asian brush painting alongside plum, bamboo and chrysanthemum. It is a subject chosen specifically because it cannot be laboured: each leaf is one loaded stroke, laid down and left, and a stroke that goes wrong cannot be gone over. On a mug, the same discipline applies, and the evidence is that \u003cstrong\u003eno two groups here are alike\u003c\/strong\u003e — different lengths, different spring, different numbers of dots.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIt is wheel-thrown and hand-finished throughout.\u003c\/strong\u003e Throwing rings run inside the well, there is the small central dimple a thrower's finger leaves in the floor, the altered wall carries the impression of the push that made it, and the pocket, handle and applied leaf are each attached by hand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe piece carries \u003cstrong\u003eno mark, signature, stamp or label\u003c\/strong\u003e anywhere, and is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e. It is described as \u003cstrong\u003econtemporary studio pottery\u003c\/strong\u003e and is \u003cstrong\u003enot represented as vintage or antique\u003c\/strong\u003e. Nothing on it carries a date, and nothing about a well-kept hand-made mug distinguishes five years old from thirty — so no date is claimed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\" style=\"width:100%; border-collapse:collapse;\"\u003e\n  \u003cthead\u003e\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\" style=\"text-align:left; vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\u003c\/thead\u003e\n  \u003ctbody\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eHand-made studio pottery mug with an applied exterior pocket for a used tea bag. Approx. 3½ in high and 5½ in across including handle and pocket; holds roughly 10–12 oz.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eWheel-thrown round belly on a small foot, altered while soft so the front wall is pressed in square; slab pocket applied to one side; thick rolled handle with a curled terminal and a pinched leaf at the upper join\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eDecoration\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eSoft white glaze with a deliberate crackle net over the whole surface, freehand-painted with green orchid sprays and small red and orange dots; interior plain white\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eWhite ceramic body, glazed inside and out, hand-thrown\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eNone. No signature, chop, stamp or label. Offered unattributed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eContemporary. Offered as contemporary studio pottery and not represented as vintage or antique — the piece carries no date and hand-made ware in good order gives no reliable age evidence.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eExcellent. Sound with no chips, no cracks, no repairs and no restoration; the rim is clean all the way round, the handle and the pocket are both firmly set with no stress lines at the joins, and the glaze is bright and unworn. \u003cstrong\u003eThe fine net of lines across the surface is the crackle glaze, not damage\u003c\/strong\u003e — it is the intended finish and it is present over the whole piece. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n    \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"vertical-align:top;\"\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA mug is the one piece of pottery you handle every single day, which makes it the piece most worth having somebody's hands in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis one earns it twice over. The altered wall means it does not feel the same front and back — there is a flat to settle a palm against and a curve for the other side — and the pinched leaf at the top of the handle puts your thumb in the right place without your having to think about it. Those are small things you notice on the fiftieth morning, not the first.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe pocket is the part people comment on. It takes the bag out of play: no saucer, no dripping across the counter, no fishing it off the rim. It works equally well for a spent bag, a wrapper, a spoon, or a biscuit narrow enough to stand in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVisually it is quiet and it goes anywhere. Crackle white with a few strokes of green is about as easy a scheme as pottery offers; it sits as comfortably on an open shelf of plain white china as it does in a cupboard of mismatched colour, and it looks deliberate either way.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note on care, and crackle glaze has one honest quirk worth knowing before the first cup. \u003cstrong\u003eA crazed glaze slowly takes up colour.\u003c\/strong\u003e Tea and coffee work into the network of fine lines over months and years, and the net darkens from invisible to a soft warm tracery. Most people consider this the best thing the mug does; if you would rather it stayed white, rinse it out promptly rather than letting it stand.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDo not leave it soaking,\u003c\/strong\u003e for the same reason. Standing water goes into the crackle and stays there far longer than it does in an uncrazed glaze.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHand wash it, and skip the dishwasher — high heat, harsh detergent and the long hot dry cycle are hard on any crackle glaze and hard on an applied handle. Warm water and a soft cloth, and avoid the temperature shock of very hot liquid straight into a cold mug.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48044862472297,"sku":"VE-0721","price":48.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_2157.jpg?v=1789190729","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/studio-pottery-mug-with-applied-tea-bag-pocket-crackle-white-glaze-and-hand-painted-orchid-sprays-wheel-thrown-and-altered","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}