A Recent Tragedy

This photograph contains three of my favorite things.  There's the phrenology head, which is part of my brain project and is the best Valentine's day present I've ever gotten.  There's the wind up kitchen timer, which is in the background behind the head, and is how I get myself through chores or tear myself away from absorbing and wonderful frivolous activities, and also how I remember that the rice is cooking downstairs.    

And the third wonderful thing is my favorite coffee mug, which recently fell to its death on a patio stone in our backyard.  Note the graceful curves, the plain black ceramic finish with a hint of festive yellow glaze peeking out from the inside.  Note that it is the perfect shape and size -- a little bit larger than your average coffee cup, and curved inward to be both pleasant to hold and also to retain a little bit more heat.  

Before I found this picture I was trying to describe the mug to a colleague and I drew this picture to try to explain what I need: 

Do you know how hard it is to search online for a mug that is the right shape and size, to replace this beloved treasure?  I don't even know how to describe the shape.  I don't care what color it is, or whether it has a witty saying on it.  I don't care if it is handmade by a local artist using only the purest organic clay or if it is mass produced by child laborers and stamped with the face of Dick Cheney, as long as it is ceramic, the right shape and size, and can be purchased for immediate delivery.  

I've already looked at Target.com, www.mugheaven.com, crateandbarrel.com, and Pier 1, without any luck at all.  I got the originals at some cheapo place like that.  Edgecomb Potters makes the closest thing I've been able to find, and if I need to I guess I can shell out $38, but it seems kind of precious to me.  Got any ideas?  

(Ideas that involve me trying to consider using a different shape mug will be rejected as absurd.  I mean *real* ideas.) 

Comments

[Sarah]

Have you checked etsy.com?

[Grant]

The mug on my desk slants inward, although not as dramatically as in your drawing. I got it at Salty Duck Pottery
115 Main St., Box 311, Wellfleet 02667
(508) 349-3342

And it was something like $25. Also, there was nobody home at the time, but they had a self-service credit card machine, the old kind with the carbon paper impression, not the magnetic swipe, and that charmed me.

[Susan]

There is a section on etsy called "alchemy". You can post the picture and solicit bids to have the exact same mug remade. Good luck!

[Scheherazade]

The closest thing I found on etsy was this, which really isn't close at all but is awfully compelling in its own right.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=41643535

But etsy is a rabbit hole that sucks me in and leaves me coveting things I didn't realize I needed, usually made out of felt or old children's books.

[Cecily]

I sent my uncle, who is a potter (and who makes mugs that are this shape, among others) what the Official Potter Name for this shape of mug is. I bet he will know, and will tell you what to call the shape in your searches. Stand by!

[Cecily]

Ahem. I mean, I sent my uncle _a message that asked him_ what the Official Potter Name is. Me and my uncontrollable need for parenthetical asides.

[Cecily]

Well, that didn't really work. Here's your answer:

"I don't think it really has a name. Potters aren't very verbal, they use pictures and drawings. Back in the 70's we used to make an even more extreme vesion (wider base and narrower neck), put rubber no-slip pads on the bottom , and call them "travel mugs" People didn't figure out until after they bought them that they slipped off the dashboard no matter what. Soon after that, cup holders became standard in American cars and the bottom dropped out of the business (bad)."

I think this means you need to befriend a potter, who will understand your drawings and make you a mug to specification.

[Megan]

You would drink coffee from a Dick Cheney mug? Really?

[Heather]

I know a local potter who would probably make one to specification. She lives in Westbrook and was in my class at Deering. Let me know if you'd like her contact info for a commission.

[Dan]

Maybe there's something like like.com for kitchen utensils? (like.com lets you search for clothes and accessories by shape, color, or pattern).

[Tess]

Do you guys have Denby over there? The shape you describe is often what I think of as their signature shape ....

http://www.denby.co.uk/Truffle/Mug/invt/134010612

http://www.denby.co.uk/Linen/Craftsmans-Mug/invt/016010019

[Scheherazade]

Ooh, Tess, those are pleasingly close, although neither is identical, which is what I'm aiming at.

Closest I've been able to find in the USA is this, which is still not it:
http://bit.ly/dtfBpN

Bengals, Dick Cheney, whatever decoration on the front doesn't matter to me if I can find the right shape.

[bill]

I searched on "clay travel mug" and "ceramic travel mug" and saw some that were close in shape. Good hunting.

[Cecily]

Also, though, my uncle the potter does have a website. If any of these styles appeal to you, I can probably hook you up.

http://www.coldmountainpottery.com/

[Cecily]

His in-house name for a similarly curvy style seems to be "cozy".

Do you want a cozy moose or a cozy grizzly bear?

[Greg]

I have an extra one of these which you are welcome to have:

http://www.m-ware.com/main.cfm?type=Ceramics&Category=barrel&ID=1139&Number=04&codec=04

It is cobalt blue with the name of a Portland firm on it, but it looks to be the exact shape as your old one (just a little curvier than the link picture shows). It is currently here with me in Phoenix, so you'll have to wait a couple of months until I'm back in 207 land.

[Scheherazade]

Greg --

!!!!!!!! That is it, or so close as to be just right.

Come to Maine, immediately. And name your price. Wow!