Kitty Kitty

Kitty Kitty is the smallest collection and the one that started as a joke between two people in the atelier. Cats appear on mugs, ring dishes, incense holders and cups — ginger ones mostly, occasionally a black cat keeping company with a ghost. Every one is drawn by hand, which is why they all have slightly different expressions.

What is in the collection

Hand-painted cat mugs and cups, ceramic cat ring dishes and jewellery dishes, incense holders and a few small decorative pieces. The ring dishes are the ones people tend to buy twice — once for themselves and once as a gift — because they are small enough to sit on a bathroom shelf and useful enough to actually get used.

If you have been hunting for a handmade cat mug, a ceramic cat ring dish or a cat lover's gift that is not printed merchandise, this is the collection.

Why every cat looks different

Faces are the hardest thing to paint repeatedly. A whisker a millimetre long changes an expression entirely, and since these are drawn freehand in underglaze on raw clay — with no way to lift a line once it is down — each cat ends up with its own character.

That is genuinely the appeal. People choose a specific cat from the photographs, not a design, and the one that arrives is the one they saw. It is worth looking at several before deciding; the differences are small but they are the whole point.

Materials and firing

Stoneware, not earthenware: fired hotter, denser, less porous, and intended for daily use. Each piece is bisque fired, glazed, then fired again to 1200°C, where the glaze and clay body fuse into one hard surface. Pieces with 24K gold detailing take a third, cooler firing so the lustre sets rather than burns away.

The glazes are food safe, and plain pieces are microwave safe. Anything with gold on it should stay out of the microwave, as metallic lustre reacts there regardless of the maker.

A single cup takes about a week from wet clay to finished object, most of it waiting rather than working.

Looking after them

Warm water and a soft sponge is all that is needed. Skip abrasive scourers and scouring powders — they will dull a glaze over time, and once dulled it cannot be brought back.

Avoid thermal shock: let a cold mug reach room temperature before pouring boiling water into it, and never move a piece from fridge to oven. Ordinary daily use does not damage stoneware; sudden temperature changes do.

For incense holders, use a stick that sits securely in the holder, place it on a heatproof surface, and do not leave it burning unattended.

Sizes

Capacity and dimensions are listed on each product page in millilitres and centimetres, converted automatically to fluid ounces and inches for visitors in the US. As every piece is thrown by hand, treat these as close approximations. Cups generally hold 200 to 300 ml and mugs 300 to 450 ml; ring dishes usually measure between 8 and 12 cm across.

Buying one as a gift

Cat pieces are among the easiest gifts to get right, partly because the recipient has usually already told you about their cat at length. A ring dish suits someone who takes rings off at the sink; a mug suits almost everyone else.

If you are matching a piece to a particular cat, ginger is what we paint most often, but black cats appear regularly and other colourings turn up in drops. Orders leave the atelier gift-wrapped and you can add a note at checkout.

Each piece is one of a kind and is not remade once it sells.

Where it is made

Everything is shaped, painted and fired in a small atelier in Kütahya, western Türkiye — a town that has been firing ceramics for roughly six centuries. Pieces are packed by hand and ship worldwide.