Modra Majolica Mug

Modra majolica is the blue-and-white (and sometimes ochre and green) folk pottery that has been made in the wine town of Modra since 1883 by Slovenská ľudová majolika, the workshop whose craft is on Slovakia's Intangible Cultural Heritage list and featured by the Homo Faber guide. Each piece is thrown, dipped in white tin glaze and painted freehand with the traditional floral motifs — no two are the same.

This 0.3 l mug in the classic blue floral pattern is the everyday piece: coffee in the morning, mulled tea in December, and a bit of Modra on a kitchen shelf in Munich or Utrecht. Dishwasher-safe in principle, but hand-washing keeps the glaze bright for decades.

Because it is fragile, the mug ships double-boxed in a moulded-pulp insert; breakage in transit is replaced free of charge. Painted signature and workshop stamp on the base.