Each year Rob and I give each other a cup as an Xmas gift. We go to Eutectic Gallery, a nationally renowned ceramics gallery here in Portland owned by some good friends where we carefully choose the cup we want. It feels great to have an art piece for everyday use as well as to know that we are supporting fellow artists to continue making their wonderful ceramics.
What makes the perfect cup? The answer tends to be unique to each person but there are some general points to consider:
- cup size, is it suited for the kinds of drinks and style of drinking that you like?
- shape, does the shape appeal to you and does it feel good in your hands?
- weight, do you like a more substantial cup or one that is thinner and lighter?
- glaze surface, what colors appeal to you? and do you like the surface shiny, matte, textured, or smooth?
- the handle, is it sized well for your fingers and it is balanced well with the overall cup size and shape?
- And of course, the overall aesthetic has to be pleasing and hopefully inspires a little love each time you hold it.
You may notice that people tend to care about the vessel they use for their morning beverage because if one of their favorites are not in the cupboard, they will undergo a search until finding the one that feels right for that day. I’ve bought a lot of cups in my life from fellow potters and have been surprised over the years at what I liked at purchase vs what I actually reach for each morning for my coffee.
For example, below to the left is a gorgeous little cup by Jeff Gunn. I love how he used the surface clay cracks as part of the painting, but unfortunately this cup is too small so I rarely use it. Whereas the cup on the right by Dennis Meiners has a funky shape and is much darker than I usually like, but after I bought it 5 years ago I quickly found that it was the cup I wanted to use every morning.
For me the aesthetic draws me first, but the deal-breaker is always how it feels in my hands. I’ve walked away from buying many a beautiful cup because it doesn't feel just right. I know that for me to love it over the long term, it has to have the unique combination of form and function.
This year I chose a mug (below, top row) by Naomi K. Clement. Although I don’t generally like a dark interior, I overlooked it because I like so many other characteristic of this cup. The aesthetic is bold and graphic and very different from anything I already have. I kept walking back over to it to take another look and again feel the shape and wonderful combination of the smooth glossy and raw brown clay surfaces. I like the size too. It holds more than 12 oz. and the handle is hefty yet delicate which is a perfect fit for my small hands. As with most cups I love, this particular one feels just right in my hands.
Rob chose this pretty little cup by the artist Jimin Lee (above, bottom row) which he hasn’t stopped praising since yesterday afternoon when he used it for the first time for some nog + scotch. This morning he had his coffee in it and again he launched off into a reverie about how much he loves this cup. He verbally praises the handle and the aesthetic most of all, but I’ve watched him repeatedly wrap his 2 hands around it and hold it against his chest so I know there’s much more to his adoration of this thing. He even tried to convince me a week ago that we should open these gifs early since we already know what they are! I laughed and pretended I thought he was joking even though he was perfectly serious.
Once each of us has identified THE cup, we tell each other and buy the chosen for the other person. You might think that the lack of surprise detracts from the specialness of this gift but for us it doesn’t. We cherish and look forward to this ritual of choosing our own special thing and we prefer to have exactly what we want rather than a surprise. Having said that, we have sometimes chosen cups for each other at different gift giving times like for a birthday or Valentine’s day.
Here are a few other of our favorites from gifts past, top row my favs for the past 2 years, left a Dennis Meiners cup that is arguably the best cup I've ever had, I LOVE that thing, and right a white glaze over terracotta clay by Justin Rothshank from his Presidential Tableware series which has been well loved too.
Bottom row are Rob's favorites from years past, to the left a huge mug by Charlie Piatt who crafts better than anyone I've met. Everything about this is extremely well-made. At first the "hippy" aesthetic didn't attract me but I found myself often trying to get this cup before Rob's did because it functions extremely well. And to the right is Rob's favorite cup of all time - until he met his new one this xmas - which was made by an emerging potter who's name we've lost and unfortunately it's unsigned.
I'd really enjoy seeing photos of your favorite cups and why you like it/them, please share either below in the comments or as a post using the tag #perfectcup. Please put your link below if you create a post so I don't miss it!
Thank you 
And as always, thank you for supporting my blog and my work, it’s essential to my art-making!
