Why Pinching Suits Stoneware Mugs

Pinching is the oldest way of shaping clay, and for mugs it is still one of the best. There is no wheel to fight, no centring to master, just your thumb and fingers pressing a wall outwards. The result is a soft, slightly irregular profile that reads as handmade the moment someone picks it up.

Stoneware is the right clay for the job. It fires dense and vitrified, so the finished mug holds heat well and stands up to daily dishwashing. Choose a mid-fire stoneware with a fine grog content of around one to two per cent — enough to give the body some tooth and to help the handle survive drying, but not so coarse that your fingertips get shredded during long pinching sessions. A smooth, plastic body is far kinder on the hands, especially if you plan to make six or eight mugs in an afternoon.

Set Up for a Matched Set

The trick to a set that looks deliberate rather than accidental is consistency at the preparation stage, not perfection later on. Weigh every ball of clay. For a mug of roughly 300ml, a 250g ball gives you comfortable room to pinch a wall about 6mm thick and still trim a foot.

• Wedge each ball thoroughly to remove air pockets, then roll it into a smooth sphere between your palms.
• Keep the balls under a sheet of plastic or a damp cloth while you work so they stay at the same softness.
• Work on plaster bats or a wooden board — you can move a mug without squeezing the walls out of shape.
• Set out a small bowl of water, a sponge, a wooden rib, a needle tool and a pair of callipers.

If your clay is a little stiff, spritz the balls and wrap them for twenty minutes before you start. Clay that is too firm will crack at the base; clay that is too soft will slump while you are still pinching the rim.

Pinching the Bodies

Push your thumb into the centre of the ball, stopping about 8–10mm short of the base — this becomes your floor. Then pinch in a spiral, working from the base upwards, rotating the clay in your non-dominant hand as you go. Keep the thumb inside and two fingers outside, moving in small increments rather than big grabs. The wall should end up even, roughly the thickness of two pound coins stacked.

Here is where the set is won or lost. Rather than finishing one mug completely and starting the next, take all of them through each stage together. Pinch mug one, set it down, pinch mug two, and so on. Because they are all at the same moisture level, you can compare them directly. Check the rim diameter with callipers and the height against a marked wooden stick. A couple of millimetres of variation looks charming; a centimetre looks like a mistake.

Blending and Compressing the Rims

A pinched rim tends to finish thin, uneven and slightly sharp, which is exactly what you do not want against your lip. Leave the rim a fraction thicker than the wall — about 7mm — and then compress it. Pinch the rim gently between thumb and forefinger all the way round, then go over it again with a damp sponge held between finger and thumb, rolling it as you rotate the mug.

This does two things: it rounds off the edge into a soft, comfortable bead, and it compresses the clay particles, which reduces chipping later. Sit the mug on a flat board to check the rim is level. If it dips on one side, wet that section and ease it up with your thumb. Run a wooden rib around the outside wall while the clay is still damp to smooth the pinch marks into a soft, faceted surface — that is where the rustic character comes from.

Pulling and Fitting Handles

Let the bodies firm up to soft leather hard before you attach anything. A handle weighs around 60–80g. Roll a tapered sausage, thicker at the top, then pull it: grip the fat end, squeeze and draw your hand down the length, letting the clay stretch rather than rolling it thinner. Two or three pulls is plenty.

• Set the handle aside to stiffen for ten to fifteen minutes — a fresh handle will sag.
• Score both the mug and the handle ends, paint on thick slip, and press firmly.
• Blend each join with your thumb, then reinforce with a small coil smoothed in with a wooden tool.
• Aim for a gap of 25–30mm wide and 60–70mm tall so two or three fingers fit comfortably.

Position the top join just below the rim and the bottom join about a third of the way up from the base. Support the mug on its side while you work so the weight of the handle does not pull the wall out of round.

Drying, Firing and Finishing

Dry the whole set slowly. Handles are the first thing to crack, so tent the mugs under a plastic bag for several days, opening it a little each day. Once bone dry, bisque fire to around 1000°C.

For a rustic look, glaze in a satin white, a soft oatmeal or a tenmoku brown, and wipe the glaze back from the handle and the foot so the clay body shows through. Fire to 1220–1260°C for a fully vitrified stoneware. The finished mugs will be a little heavier than shop-bought ones, and all the better for it.