Process

Pinched, painted, glazed, fired

Everything is hand-built and hand-painted in Chongqing, China, by qiuqiu and Lisa. There are no molds in the studio. This is what a week looks like.

Pinching the body

We start with a ball of clay and pinch it up into a cup, then pull a handle and bend it into a tail. The cat's body is built on in pieces and blended in with a wooden tool. This is where every mug becomes its own shape.

Painting

Once the clay is leather-hard we paint the cat and the background with coloured slips and underglaze. Stripes, patches and bows are painted freehand, so they move a little from mug to mug.

Glazing

After the first firing the mug gets a clear glaze inside and out. The glaze pools where the clay dips, which is why the colours look deeper in some places.

Firing

The kiln takes a day to fire and a day to cool. Opening it is the best part of the week and the only part we cannot control. Some mugs come out with a speck or a pinhole; that is the kiln talking.

Signing and packing

Each numbered mug is signed and numbered on the base and packed in a box with a fitted insert. We photograph every mug before it leaves.

Short videos of all of this live on Instagram.