Mustard Glazed Ceramic Tea Cup

A handleless ceramic cup with a gently flared shape, two incised rings around the body and a glossy mustard-ochre glaze. The glaze shifts from golden honey to deep olive wherever it has pooled and streaked in the kiln, so no two angles look quite the same. Underneath, an unglazed foot ring shows the raw clay. It sits nicely in the palm, perfect for green tea, a small cortado, or holding a few stems from the garden.

That warm mustard colour most likely comes from one humble ingredient, iron oxide. Just 1 to 2% of iron in a clear glaze fires to honey, amber and yellow when the kiln has plenty of oxygen, and turns deeper brown where it gathers thickly. The bare ring on the base also has a name in Japanese pottery: the kodai. It's left unglazed on purpose so the cup doesn't slide when wet, and collectors often check it first to read the clay and the maker's hand.