Tea Blog

Some of my favorite tea mugs are from Dunoon. I have sipped many a hot cuppa with meals or by itself, during stormy weather or clear, in beastly heat or bone-chilling cold. Those mugs have never let me down. Time to check out some of their classic designs and see which you might want for your own collection and tea sipping.

The Dunoon company is based in Staffordshire, UK. It was founded in 1974 and remains a family business that produces high quality bone china mugs. The fine clays used come from Cornwall, S.W. England. They account for the brilliant white, resilient, and somewhat translucent quality of the finished product. A traditional process known as “slip casting” is the only one they use as part of their commitment to the highest manufacturing standards. They use only liquid clay in this process, not machine made. The mugs are fine to the touch, light to hold, and a joy to sip your favorite tea from. From clay to mug, the product is handled by mostly skilled craftsmen and assures that the Dunoon reputation for excellence in pottery making is maintained.

Sizes available:

• Small / Regular Size Mugs
• Medium Size Mugs
• Oversize Mugs

Shapes:

Dunoon tea mugs are sought after as classics. Many have that very recognizable slight curving outward of the upper rim. But others sport shapes that are classics in themselves, as shown in this diagram from the Dunoon Web site:

Designs:

Ranging from flowers to butterflies and dragonflies to cats and dogs to golf and much more, there is a design for every taste. They are created by an in-house team of talented designers and by gifted freelance artists, many associated with Dunoon for 25 years or more.

Dunoon uses high-quality glazes and prints with keen attention to accurate color reproduction to assure all the detail and rich shades intended by the designer are there on the mugs.

Some true classics (and just outright adorable):

• Clan Tartans Glencoe shape Mug
• Birdlife Henley shape Mug
• Cottage Doorways White Wessex shape Mug
• Know Your Cricket Cairngorm shape Mug
• Pipers Galore Lomond shape Mug
• Dark Cherry Blossom Suffolk shape Mug
• How To Be The Boss Cotswold shape Mug

I wanted to include a picture of each of the above, but time and space here did not allow. Hopefully, you will take time to see each of these for yourselves.

Be sure to check out their special commemorative mugs like this one:

My Dunoon tea mug collection so far:

It started with a Devon shape mug someone gave me as a gift. You know how it goes. You get that freebie. And you’re hooked! Then I started prowling the shops, looking at the bottom of every mug I saw for that “Dunoon” name. And, as you know, with any addiction, stopping is the hard part.

This is the underside of the mug shown on the right in the next picture:

The Dunoon mug is on the right below. Note how much more delicate it is and its slightly rounded edge for easy, drip-free sipping. The handle is delicate yet sturdy.

This one was also a gift, received about three years ago, and comes with a matching lid:

I stumbled across the mug below quite by accident while shopping for something else (happens that way a lot with things!). Unlike the others, this one is labeled “Dunoon Stoneware Scotland” on the bottom. The design is pre-Raphaelite and comes from this painting. I’ve had the mug since the late 1980s. It seems that there is a Dunoon Ceramics Limited, founded in 1973 in the town of Dunoon, Scotland, that makes the stoneware mugs, while the fine bone china is made in Stone, Staffordshire, UK, beginning in 1981 (according to this article).

We don’t have this one yet, but someday:

Start your collection here and fill those tea mugs with your favorite tasty tea!

See more of A.C. Cargill’s articles here.

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