Vintage Studio Pottery Goose Mug by Val Sparkes,Tiptoe Pottery

Hand-thrown and joyfully illustrated, this studio pottery mug is by Val Sparkes of Tiptoe Pottery, a now-retired maker who worked from Danestream Farm in Hampshire from the early 1990s until 2018. Val graduated from Bristol Polytechnic in 1981, and her pieces feel quietly nostalgic, always full of character and heart.

This one features a delightfully freehand geese in cobalt blue, mid-stride as if they’ve got somewhere important to be, maybe the garden gate, maybe just the next patch of sunshine. The illustration wraps right around the mug, with soft washes of blue glaze and a dipped rim that frames your morning brew perfectly.

Vintage condition: in great condition, small area on the rim where the glaze didn’t fully cover during the making process. 

Height: 7.5cm
Top diameter: 8cm
Base diameter: 8.5cm