Estella Stoneware Cup 350ml - Blue

This stoneware cup has a soft, rounded belly and a rim that dips and rises gently rather than running perfectly level, with faint dimples across its sides. It holds 350ml, a generous measure that takes a large tea or a milky coffee, so it does the work of a mug in a lower, cosier shape. It is 9cm across and 8cm tall and weighs 0.24KG. The blue glaze is soft and cloudy, thinning at the rim and along the edges of the handle so the bare clay is left visible, and the foot is left unglazed.

It belongs at the kitchen table on a slow morning, on the desk through a long afternoon, or beside the chair where you read in the evening. The width of the body lets the whole cup sit comfortably in two cupped hands, the way many of us hold a hot drink on a cold day, and the single looped handle makes it easy to carry from the kettle to the sofa. Stoneware holds heat well, which is exactly what a material for tea and coffee should do. At this size it is just as at home on a breakfast tray as at an afternoon tea for friends.

Stoneware is dense and hard-wearing, and the maker states this cup can go in the dishwasher, the microwave and the oven. In practice that means it can be washed with the rest of your everyday crockery, a coffee gone cold can be warmed again in the microwave, and the oven can bake a single pudding in it. The uneven rim and dimpled sides are part of its character rather than flaws, so it never looks too perfect on the table. For a calm setting, pair it with plain linen and pale wood, which let the soft blue glaze and the glimpses of bare clay take the attention.

How much does the cup hold?

It holds 350ml, a generous measure for a large tea or a milky coffee, in a rounded shape 9cm across and 8cm tall.

Can it go in the dishwasher?

Yes. The maker states it can go in the dishwasher, so it can be washed with the rest of your everyday crockery.

Can I use it in the microwave or the oven?

Yes to both. The maker states it can go in the microwave and in the oven, which is handy for warming a drink or baking a single pudding.

What is it made of?

It is made of 100% stoneware, a dense, hard-wearing ceramic that holds heat well, finished in a soft, cloudy blue glaze.

Is it a cup or a mug?

It is sold as a cup, but at 350ml it takes a mug-sized drink; it is simply lower and wider, with a rounded body and one looped handle.

How heavy is it?

It weighs 0.24KG, light enough to lift comfortably by its handle while the stoneware still feels solid in the hand.