Coffee

Mugs52 Is Back—Meet The Makers Behind Our 2024 Collection

Each year, we task 52 ceramicists with creating one-of-a-kind handmade mugs. The result is Mugs52: a truly unique collection you’ll only find here.

November 13, 2024
Photo by Armando Rafael

After a nearly year-long collaboration with some of the most talented ceramicists across the country, we're so excited to introduce this year's Mugs52 collection. Supply is limited, so get your hands on your favorite pieces ASAP.


Meet The Makers

Photo by Armando Rafael

1. A Question of Eagles

  • Location: Broad Ripple, IN
  • What was the inspiration for your design? Color was forefront on our mind this year, so we took a deep dive researching holiday decor rooted in more European traditions. There, we found lots of stripes and bold colors to inspire us for our mug. We think it exudes a cozy charm for drinking hot cocoa in your snow covered cottage. Just add a plaid tablecloth for maximum pattern play.
Photo by Armando Rafael

2. Andrew Molleur Studio

  • Ceramicist: Andrew Molleur
  • Location: Kingston, NY
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? The biggest challenge to designing this mug was achieving the proper proportions. For example, the handle is large enough to slip at least two fingers behind, fits the mug body, and doesn't feel uncomfortable to hold and drink from when it is filled with liquid.
Photo by Armando Rafael

3. Base Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Catalina Parra
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? What many don’t realize is that each mug is hand-painted using layers of colored clay, giving the colors a rich depth, and making every piece truly one-of-a-kind.
Photo by Armando Rafael

4. Beginner Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Jesse Hamerman
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? The size can be perfect for ice cream, cereal, even a homemade warming chicken broth. You can also use it as a planter for a succulent, a pen holder, a container to make custom candles—there's so many possibilities.
Photo by Armando Rafael

5. BG Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Bennett Graves
  • Location: Pittsburgh, PA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? I drink a lot of matcha lattes at home and wanted to create my ideal mug for that occasion. The glazes are inspired by the colors and textures of a glacial pool and felt like the perfect backdrop for the vibrant green of matcha.
Photo by Armando Rafael

6. BKLYN CLAY Made

  • Ceramicists: Sarah Allwine & Gustav Hamilton
  • Location: New York, NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? Our inspiration was vintage travel mugs. They were made to keep your coffee on the dashboard while driving, which we think is very cool.
Photo by Armando Rafael

7. Bombabird

  • Ceramicist: Chelsea Erdner
  • Location: Pittsburgh, PA
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? The mug is made from a white stoneware and finished in a custom glaze, mixed in my studio. The interior of the mug has a satin robin’s egg blue glaze while the exterior is dipped in a more textured pale blue with some speckles. Each glaze is a different hue of blue but I love how well they compliment each other.
Photo by Armando Rafael

8. Carved Color

  • Ceramicist: Taylor Suchy
  • Location: Newport Beach, CA
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? The biggest challenge this year was keeping the lines on the design clean. The secondary clay body on the outside is more textured and rough so the glaze slips in between the tape when masking it off.
Photo by Armando Rafael

9. Connor McGinn Studios

  • Ceramicist: Connor McGinn
  • Location: Tarrytown, NY
  • What our team loves about this mug: The shape and color—it's a combo that begs us to drink coffee from it.
Photo by Armando Rafael

10. Earth + Element

  • Ceramicist: Elizabeth Gold
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? We drew inspiration from the cozy, timeless appeal of fall plaid for this mug design. Each cup is meticulously hand-painted with subtle iridescent matte stripes, which, when fired, softly blur to create a beautiful, one-of-a-kind effect. This organic variation makes every mug truly unique, reflecting the touch of our three talented local artisans in our Los Angeles studio.
Photo by Armando Rafael

11. East Fork Pottery

  • Location: Asheville, NC
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? This mug is perfect for pouring a cold one.
Photo by Armando Rafael

12. Ekua Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Sara Todd
  • Location: Long Beach, CA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? I wanted something warming but familiar. I think the oxblood glaze and the pink really complement each other while also not being too boring.
Photo by Armando Rafael

13. Elizabeth Benotti

  • Ceramicist: Elizabeth Benotti
  • Location: Eliot, ME
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? This mug is hand built from porcelain slabs instead of being wheel-thrown. Each piece is carefully assembled, with the blue underglaze hand-painted, and then the herringbone pattern is carved out in a process called sgraffito.
Photo by Armando Rafael

14. Erin Louise Clancy

  • Ceramicist: Erin Clancy
  • Location: Queens, NY
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? The biggest challenge in designing this mug lies in the Mishima technique used to create its herringbone or knit/purl pattern. This ceramic method involves applying a contrasting color of slip into the grooves of an etched clay surface, requiring careful hand-carving and inlay with porcelain slip. Each piece demanded care and attention to successfully achieve the intricate surface pattern.
Photo by Armando Rafael

15. Fenway Clayworks

  • Ceramicist: Sean VanderVilet
  • Location: Golden, CO
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? My goal is alway to make objects that can exist on a counter when not being used, and still provide an interesting visual element to a space. I think these mugs fit in that category. If not for coffee or tea, heck, use it for ice cream.
Photo by Armando Rafael

16. Fisheye Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Kim Gilmour
  • Location: Catskill, NY
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? I wanted to make a mug that could hold a substantial amount of coffee or tea, but that also felt light and comfortable and stable when held. Each mug is hand thrown, so it’s always a challenge to achieve all of that with each one. The handles are a particular challenge as you want to make it comfortable to hold for different hand sizes.
Photo by Armando Rafael

17. Franca

  • Ceramicist: Sierra Yip-Bannicq
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? Each Cara mug is hand-painted, so no two mugs are identical. The subtle variations in brushwork and glaze application make every piece one-of-a-kind. Made in our Brooklyn-based women-owned studio, this mug is a celebration of both art and craftsmanship.
Photo by Armando Rafael

18. G’Day Thrillseekers

  • Ceramicist: Hannah Groff
  • Location: NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? I drew a lot of inspiration from my extensive tinned fish collection, and the classic Hudson River Estuary sign with the beautiful blue sturgeon on it that you see across New York.
Photo by Armando Rafael

19. Handmade Studio TN

  • Ceramicist: Morgan Williamson
  • Location: Nashville, TN
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? Every single mug takes weeks to complete from start to finish. Each step is approached with care and love, from molding the clay, to impressing the texture, to firing in the kiln, to wrapping up and shipping to our customers! We hope you love them as much as we loved making them!
Photo by Armando Rafael

20. Heo Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Karent Tong
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? My studio Heo Ceramics takes its name from the Vietnamese word “heo” which means boar, or pig. I was born in the Year of the Pig, and the coil of a pig’s tail has always drawn my eye and made me smile. The handle on these mugs was designed to evoke that same feeling!
Photo by Armando Rafael

21. IIIVVVYYY Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Ivy Weinglass
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? One of my favorite things to drink out of my mugs is miso soup! When I'm at my studio and I need something nourishing and warm, I put a packet of miso soup with some hot water in a mug, stir and sip on it all day!
Photo by Armando Rafael

22. Jeremy Ayers

  • Location: Waterbury, VT
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? The stripes on this mug are the raw clay of the mug itself. The color of the raw clay varies from mug to mug depending on where it was in the kiln.
Photo by Armando Rafael

23. Jessie Lazar

  • Ceramicist: Jessie Lazar
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What our team loves about this mug: Two things: Speckles and handle. The former's just fun—a playful reminder that your routine cup of joe is worth celebrating. And the latter, well, it simply feels really, really good in your hand.
Photo by Armando Rafael

24. Kendall Davis Clay

  • Ceramicist: Kendall Davis
  • Location: Fort Worth, TX
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? You could always use my mug to secretly be drinking something stronger. You could also use the mug as the gift at a work related "gift exchange" party to be the star of the show.
Photo by Armando Rafael

25. Lauren HB Studio

  • Ceramicist: Lauren Herzak-Bauman
  • Location: Kingston, NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? The form itself was my starting point. I envisioned taking a line for a walk, meandering around the contours of the mug. I hope to inspire a sense of mental wandering while someone sips a hot beverage. It's about creating a moment of pause and reflection within the everyday ritual of enjoying a drink.
Photo by Armando Rafael

26. Lauren Lauzon

  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? The oranges motif is one of my first ever designs I put on a mug almost six years ago. For this project, it felt really fitting to nod to my beginnings as a ceramicist, while also featuring one of my newer handle styles.
Photo by Armando Rafael

27. Lost Quarry

  • Ceramicist: Doris Josovitz
  • Location: New York
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? I love that my mugs can be art pieces—they’re perfect for styling on a shelf or even for practical uses like holding pens and pencils on a desk. In the bathroom, they work well to keep toothbrushes and toothpaste organized. In my studio, I use my sample mugs to hold ceramic tools.
Photo by Armando Rafael

28. Meltz Studio

  • Ceramicist: Alexandra Meltzer
  • Location: Newburgh, NY
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? The green color of the brushstrokes were created using something called copper wash. The copper used in ceramic colorants and the copper used to make pennies is the same element used in different forms.
Photo by Armando Rafael

29. Mondays

  • Ceramicist: Jennifer Fiore
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? There is a mug in the Etruscan Wing of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that is so perfect and simple and timeless. It was made thousands of years ago but manages to feel utterly contemporary. I want all of my work to have that same quality of not being clearly placed in time or following a trend.
Photo by Armando Rafael

30. Mondays

  • Ceramicist: Nina Lalli
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? My mug is heavy! Some people may prefer an alternative use. It's great as a small vase, pencil holder, smoothie or milkshake cup (with a straw). It could even be a planter, with some pebbles in the bottom to help drainage, or cute as a utensil holder on the dinner table or buffet.
Photo by Armando Rafael

31. Mud Witch

  • Ceramicist: Viviana Matsuda
  • Location: San Francisco, CA
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? I wanted something playful and functional. I like my mugs to look like they are a part of a cartoon. I wanted the handle to be like a large donut but I had to make the handle hollow or the mug would be too heavy. I had to throw it on the wheel then make a plaster mold to pour a thin layer of slip so the handle would be lightweight.
Photo by Armando Rafael

32. Myrth Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Abigail Smallwood
  • Location: Providence, RI
  • What was the inspiration for your design? Our mug design was inspired by the beautiful cascading light in our new studio in Providence, RI. Diagonal rays of light bathe our studio’s east-facing windows and this makes it a really lovely place to work every day. The light rays also reminded us of the texture of our Moon Vase so we combined the two ideas in a diagonal hand-carved surface on our mug.
Photo by Armando Rafael

33. Objet Aimee

  • Ceramicist: Aimee McLaughlin
  • Location: Portland, ME
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? That stoneware clay was invented approximately 1,250,447 days ago (1400 BCE) and this stoneware mug was invented approximately 64 days ago (September 2024).
Photo by Armando Rafael

34. Pepper Stone Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Anna Richardson
  • Location: Charlottesville, VA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? I love a vintage French Stripe—the pattern is timeless. But I wanted to bring a more relaxed tone to that with the imperfect, painterly style of the stripes that I think adds a level of cozy.
Photo by Armando Rafael

35. Personal Best

  • Ceramicist: Whitney Simpkins
  • Location: Baltimore, MD
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? I love using this size mug for a big scoop of ice cream. I've also been known to water the plants in my kitchen by filling a random mug from the cabinet.
Photo by Armando Rafael

36. Pigeon Toe

  • Ceramicist: Sam Hough
  • Location: Portland, OR
  • What was the inspiration for your design? The '70s! Pottery was full of warm tones, organic surface design, and interesting textures. We started with a custom-made brown clay, and contrasted it with bursts of melted glass crystals mixed into an off-white glaze.
Photo by Armando Rafael

37. Recreation Center

  • Ceramicist: Josephine Heilpern
  • Location: New York, NY
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? I like to use my mugs for drinking broth in the morning. But outside of drinking anything you can use the mug to amplify sound! I mean it's not its main intention but oftentimes, when I'm in the kitchen cooking, I place my phone inside a mug to make my music louder. I guess it's maybe time I buy myself some speakers.
Photo by Armando Rafael

38. Rory Pots

  • Ceramicist: Rory Shamlian
  • Location: Burlington, VT
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? It was made in a studio in Burlington, Vermont by a very small team of women, a few blocks away from Lake Champlain, likely to the sound of a true crime podcast.
Photo by Armando Rafael

39. Ruth Easterbrook

  • Location: Philadelphia, PA
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? I throw each cup from a lump of clay so getting the dimensions and/or proportions the same each time is a challenge. Slight variation is inherently part of the handmade process but I am happy with how similar they turned out.
Photo by Armando Rafael

40. Sarah Cihat

  • Ceramicist: Sarah Grant
  • Location: Nashville, TN
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? I would definitely use it for ice cream, as I don’t like a big huge bowl of it. They’re also great for snacks like nuts or olives and could fit easily on a snack/charcuterie board, so be sure to buy multiples!
Photo by Armando Rafael

41. Sombra

  • Ceramicist: Allison Shawn
  • Location: Los Angeles, CA
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? Balancing texture, form, and function was key to creating a minimalist but unique mug. I wanted a surface that invites touch without being too coarse, creating a texture that’s earthy yet refined; I sought to ensure a stable, stackable form that's comfortable to hold; and I wanted to remove any extraneous elements from the making process. Finding that equilibrium took time, but it’s what makes each piece feel so inviting.
Photo by Armando Rafael

42. Stone & Sparrow

  • Ceramicist: Kate Marchand
  • Location: Pittsburgh, PA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? The inspiration for my design was really a matter of trial and error. I came up with this design while developing a series of pieces for a local coffee shop with a motorcycle theme (think Deus Ex Machina vibes). While developing something complementary to a "grease-spot" theme, I tried a lot of illustration patterns on the mug body surfaces. This one stuck!
Photo by Armando Rafael

43. Studiolo Artale

  • Ceramicist: Isabella Artale
  • Location: Union City, NJ
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? Since we're in soup season, I think this mug makes for a great "bowl." You get the function of a vessel, but with the added ergonomics of a handle! Plus the height of the mug wall is nice for keeping the soup warmer for longer.
Photo by Armando Rafael

44. Studio Joo

  • Ceramicist: Elaine Tian
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? My mug is a Japanese chawan-style bowl. After an inspiring visit to Japan in 2012, I took some tea ceremony classes at the Urasenke Chanoyu Center in NYC. My work has been steeped in the wabi-sabi tradition since. Fun Fact: Urasenke Chanoyu Center is located in the former studio and home of Mark Rothko. They have a Zen rock garden, and some of the most stunning tea rooms outside of Japan. I highly recommend a visit!
Photo by Armando Rafael

45. Sunday Studio

  • Ceramicist: Joanne Lee
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What was the biggest challenge of designing this mug? I don't usually make mugs so landing on the right size was a challenge, to make it big enough but not too big. Clay shrinks about 12-15%, so something that looks the right size when it's freshly thrown can end up being kiddie-sized once it's gone through the final firing.
Photo by Armando Rafael

46. This Quiet Dust

  • Ceramicist: Dubhe Carreno
  • Location: Lake Forest, IL
  • Other than drinking coffee or tea, what’s another way someone could use your mug? I actually love my new mug design as a flower vase because it can pick up the color of any flower as well as the greens of the leaves. I think it would also make an awesome brush holder or small utensil holder for shorter items like measuring spoons, vegetable peeler, pizza cutter, etc.
Photo by Armando Rafael

47. Utility Objects

  • Ceramicist: Aleisha Duchateau
  • Location: Atlanta, GA
  • What was the inspiration for your design? Industrial soil compactors. If you see one you'll know.
Photo by Armando Rafael

48. Void & Form

  • Ceramicist: Natalie Legg
  • Location: Denver, CO
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? That's tough because I left this mug almost entirely bare so that you can see the color of the clay itself. But, one thing someone probably wouldn't know is that this mug was created from clay I recycled in my studio.
Photo by Armando Rafael

49. Wilcoxson Brooklyn Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Kevin Wilcoxson
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What was the inspiration for your design? The inspiration was celebration, confetti, bright colors and simple pleasure.
Photo by Armando Rafael

50. Wolf Ceramics

  • Ceramicist: Sarah Wolf
  • Location: Hood River, OR
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? While I was throwing these on the wheel I was—probably—listening to Harry Potter on tape. It's a tradition every year in the studio. Once it gets dark and rainy and production starts ramping up for the holidays, we start listening to the series from the beginning.
Photo by Armando Rafael

51. Wonki Ware

  • Ceramicist: Wonki Ware
  • Location: Western Cape, South Africa
  • What we love about this mug: It belongs on the dining table of your fanciest dinner party, the corner of your office desk, and everywhere in between.
Photo by Armando Rafael

52. Daniel Zunino

  • Ceramicist: Daniel Zunino
  • Location: Brooklyn, NY
  • What’s something about your mug that someone wouldn’t know just by looking at it? I spent several months developing a custom glaze for this piece, continuing to iterate and test in order to land on the color and texture I was after.

Which ceramicist should we work with next year? Let us know in the comments below!

See what other Food52 readers are saying.

Paul Hagopian

Written by: Paul Hagopian

Editor @ Food52

2 Comments

Robyn November 13, 2024
You should check out the rising artist Jessica Bloch-Schulman. (https://www.jessicablochschulman.com/about)
 
Bex November 13, 2024
I'd love to participate next year, if at all possible.
I'm @bexpottery on Instagram and my website is bexpottery.com